As a decorated soldier, the young General Tao knows only one kind of honor--to his people. But when his own king betrays him, he discovers that his sacrifices, his successes, may not have been for the good of the country at all.

Fate--and his enemies--throw him together with Elsabeth, a red-haired beauty who has served as the royal tutor. Her loyalties, though, remain with her father's people, the rebellious Kurel, who worship the old ways, even harboring the forbidden arks that brought the Kurel to this planet ages ago. When a threat greater than their peoples' war looms, intent on destroying the world they both know, the fierce warrior and the sensitive scholar must unite. Together, they must fight for their planet, for their world and for their love.