In the decadent Empire of Bharaghlaf, the Scholar King Khethyran sits uneasily on the throne while in the Slums of his capital city an apprentice thief, Ferret, and her five young friends eke out a hand-to-mouth existence. When the beggar Owl disappears, Ferret and the others set out to learn his fate. Sold as a slave to the powerful House Ghytteve, Owl is destined to be the bait at the center of a complicated grab for power. But Owl, whose gifts as a Seer are just beginning to emerge, is far more than the helpless pawn he seems. As Ferret and her friends come closer to the truth, they too are inexorably drawn into the vicious intrigues of the Council Houses. Form the enigmatic longshoreman, Sharkbait, to the Emperor's foreign witch, the friends enlist a formidable and varied band of allies—and set out to beat the scheming nobles at their own, ruthless game.

"An engaging cast of characters plunge into a deadly court intrigue that masks a supernatural intrigue more dangerous still. From the slum kids to the Scholar King, Hilgartner creates heroes both great and small that drew me into her tale." — Lois McMaster Bujold