The sudden death of the Emperor Leonid, patriarch of the powerful Malagash dynasty, has plunged the empire of Magravandias into chaos. To preserve order, Valraven Palindrake, Dragon Lord of Caradore, reluctantly pledges his support to the young Crown Prince, Gastern, against his more ambitious brothers, Almorante and Bayard. Now the waiting begins, as rival factions gather strength for the battle that lies ahead.

Concerned for the fate of her adopted country, Varencienne Palindrake, sea-wife of Valraven and sister to Leonid’s sons, embarks on a perilous journey to Magrast to confer with her mother, the Empress Tatrini. But en route, she is captured by the dark magus Taropat and his student, Shan, who hope to use her as a pawn in their own intricate game to revive three lost implements of power: the Dragon’s Eye, the Dragon’s Breath, and the Dragon’s Claw.

As Magravandias descends toward a holocaust of bloodshed and warfare, a dark cabal of Firemages schemes in secret to engineer the coronation of their own choice for successor. And in Caradore, Rav and Ellony, the twin children of Valraven Palindrake, summon ancient magics to open the Way of Light and place a true King on the throne.