Welcome to a world where knowing politics is survival and the best atFeist has joined with Janny Wurts to render a tale from the other side of the Rift War, the Tsurani Empire of Kelewan. Feist's and Wurts's new series takes the reader on a ride through the Empire, while the war with Midkemia takes a distant yet poignant back seat. .
As the story opens, Mara, the daughter of Lord Sezu of House Acoma, is vowing her honor and future to the Order of Lashima, Goddess of the Inner Light. Lord Sezu and his son and heir, Lanokota, have fallen in the battle with Midkemia. Brought down by the treachery and betrayal of a rival house, Minwanabi and the Lord Jingu, the House Acoma's fate descends upon Mara mere moments before she is sworn into the Order. .
Grieved and stunned by the deaths, she is whisked away to become Lady of House Acoma, a rarity in the history of the Empire. As her barge thrusts through the waterways of Kentosani toward her home, Mara is beset with thoughts of vengeance, pain, fear, anger, and confusion as she struggles to deal with the deaths of her admired father and adored brother and her new duties as Lady of House Acoma. .
The Acoma garrison has been weakened because hundreds of her father's soldiers followed him into battle and were cut down by the Midkemian barbarians in that distant land. Though wealthy, the House Acoma is in grave danger of being destroyed by a further thrust of Lord Jingu of the Minwanabi as he plays the time-honored Game of the Council. .
Realizing she is naive in the Game of the Council, where low houses can be made mighty and mighty houses ascend to the Emperorship or end in ruin, Mara must quickly gain experience if her family name is to survive. The empire Mara and her family have lived in for so long is full of political maneuvering, blood feuds, assassins, and wily merchants, beggars and grey warriors. House Acoma is one of the oldest families of the Empire and, with the recent events, one of the most vulnerable to becoming a house of ruin and memory.
