In case the Council of Athyzia did not end disastrously enough, even more dire consequences await the sorceress Nauveena. Looking to blame someone for the council's outcome, the Academy of Mages casts her out, sending her into exile.

Now she is without her magic and without a home. With nowhere to turn, she settles at the tiny Clovis Monastery in Jenor's remote wilderness. It will be in this lonesome corner of Jenor that she will try to save the rest of it.

Nauveena has only one motivation now, overturning the council. At Clovis, she will study the issue. However, the monks are not helpful. They are too drunk. And their library is too small. Furthermore, her plans put her at odds with those she still calls her the witch Venefica and the druid Malachite. They believe the best course is to hold another council, but Nauveena now sees how much can go wrong with voting. Her focus is on obtaining the secret Book of Order.

She has one new ally, however. The Osseomancer himself. They share a common enemy in the Magic of Order, after all. He is confined to the shadow world, only able to visit Nauveena in her dreams. He believes Nauveena alone can return him. As long as she refuses, he remains contained, and she is able to confide in him when she has no one else.

All this changes, when a mysterious summons comes from the northern kings, who had previously left the council to go to war with each other. They have since made peace and now wish to right the wrongs they caused by leaving the council so abruptly. Nauveena and her friends must put their differences aside to journey to the north.

To reach the north, however, they must make a perilous journey through the dangerous middle kingdoms where the Magic of Order reigns supreme. But even if they survive, they might find even more serious dangers await them...