Four years ago, Belro Addison's wife betrayed him, and he found himself a slave in the city of Sera'thina because of it. He holds no ill-will against her or her lover, though; the kyronite mines are where he belongs, their endless tunnels the only home he knows anymore, their cleansing flames his only companion. But when fifth columnists, led by the Jessaret, make a pawn of him in their quest to overthrow the city's despotic Magister, they think they're forcing him to choose between fire and fate. Unbeknownst to them, however, Belro would rather die than choose; to him there's little difference between the two.