All Mira Kinvara wanted was to be a great mechanic, like her father. But when the sickness that killed her mother ten years earlier reappears in her rural town in the Sand Kingdom, this time afflicting her father, Mira's world is shaken to its foundations. 

The only hope her father, and her entire town has lies in The Hourglass, the shining capitol of the Sand Kingdom. Her only ally is Sonam Nzari, a chauvinistic young man for whom she was nearly purchased as a child bride. Mira and Sonam quickly find themselves tumbling into a dark world of organized crime, international espionage, corrupt dignitaries, and law enforcement bent on their arrest. 

Had Mira remained in her village, the fever no doubt would have taken her. But seeking the cure may be deadlier than she thinks.