Her name is Hekat -- and she will be slave to no man. In a family torn apart by poverty and violence, Hekat is no more than an unwanted mouth to feed, worth only a few coins from a passing slave trader. But Hekat was not born to be a slave. For her, a different path has been chosen. It is a path that will take her from stinking back alleys to the house of her god, from blood-drenched battlefields to the glittering palaces of Mijak.

As Rhian struggles to hold on to her throne in Ethrea, the murderous warhost of Mijak advances.