Mara, the youngest child of the ancient and noble Acoma family, is about to take her pledge of servitude to the goddess Lashima when the ceremony is disrupted by news of her father and brother's death in battle Despite her grief, as the only surviving member of her house Mara must now take up the mantle of Ruling Lady But she soon discovers betrayal at the heart of her family's loss, and the Acoma's enemies have brought her house to the brink of utter destruction