Corvo and Ardán are back in this stand-alone story that follows them from Ardán's homeworld of Biryan to a new planet. Corvo has been called in to arbitrate a situation on the planet Varosa that is on the brink of becoming a civil war.
Added to the intricacies of negotiations are Corvo and Ardán's own problems. Ardán's peculiar status as a slave, and yet not a slave, is still not resolved to his or Corvo's satisfaction, and when things begin to go wrong on Varosa, Ardán just might have to face the baggage he's been carrying around for years. Can Corvo and Ardán come out of the volatile situation not only alive, but with their relationship intact? Or is everything about to come to pieces?
Corvo and Ardán have appeared in Grisaille in Sand and Sunset and Poppy