Fifteen-year-old baker’s daughter, Emilya Luca, is in serious trouble with the Glennadian Crown. Her crime: to prevent a small dog from being torn apart by hounds belonging to the callous Prince Magnus. Having been rescued by former naval captain, Jake Oscom, the unlikely pair become fugitives, hunted across Glennad – initially for cruel sport but latterly after being framed for a heinous crime committed by Magnus himself.

Elsewhere, in a world with unusual geographical quirks and subtle energy lines, hardships endure for a close-knit community of miners and unimaginable foul play befalls a Glennadian princess – but these trials pale into insignificance compared to what Thissibrilean astronomers have just discovered. Four hundred leagues south, in the ancient city of Thera, the cruel eyes of Emperor Calidius Antoninus Dominius have seen the same thing – but to him it spells only opportunity for conquest…and revenge.