The Illhari Republic rests on the bones of gods, telling tales of conquest and forgetting its once-bloody devotion to its most powerful goddess. Snowdenaelikk, half-blood conjuror and smuggler, cares less about history than the sterling silver she can earn with sharp metallic and sharpened wits. However when the neighborhood legion blames her for burning a town, an outland with a feeling of honor intervenes, and Snow finds herself tangled in politics and an unwelcome relationship.

Snow and her new partner, Veiko, alongside the legion scout Dekklis, uncover a conspiracy which will destroy the Republic from within. It seems that the goddess can be back again from wherever useless gods go. She has not ignored the Republic, and she wants revenge.

Loyal Dekklis can do anything to save the Republic, and Snow reluctantly agrees to help-until she realizes that “anything” means sacrificing Veiko. Today Snow must decide whether her partner’s lifestyle is worth betraying her allies and damning the Republic to battle.