Nobody knows how to play the Game of the Council better than Mara of the Acoma But when you're surrounded by deadly rivals intent on toppling you at every turn, you need to be the best simply to survive But Lady Mra must contend with battles on two fronts in the hotbed of intrigue and treachery that is the court of Tsurani and in her heart, where her affection for a barbarian slave from the enemy world of Midkemia leads her to question the principles by which she lives