It is a time of shifting powers in the Phoenoan empire. The borders have been set for decades but the citizens are restless. In the great city of Maerin, tensions writhe just beneath the surface. So far from the empire's seat, the nobility is left to plot unchecked. Into this perilous world of the nobility are thrust two young scions of previously unimportant houses. The impetuous Jormand who avidly avoids his duties, preferring to spend his time brawling and the calculating Galier whose political acumen is being tested to its fullest in this new environment. The threads of intrigue are woven thickly around them and strained near to breaking yet it remains to be seen just which ones will hold.