Aurian Koch, semi-professional innkeeper, has a pretty easy life. He drinks beer with the necromancers down the road, scrubs tabletops, swabs glasses, and robs bandits. In the company of his wife, the mysterious ex-soldier Jin Grewler, he's...well, maybe not respected. Maybe tolerated is the right word. Things change when Jin's past comes to call in the form of a Bonedancer, scourge of the Imperial South. Before they know it, Aurian and Jin are burning their inn and running for the woods to flee from the consequences of whatever it is Jin has done this time. But what has Jin done? As they flee, Aurian begins to realize there's more to the story--and to his wife--than simple crime. Their choices will affect not only their own fortunes, but those of the entire land.