Unable to avoid her destiny any longer, Emariya has become the leader her mother always envisioned.To unite her three lands, she must embrace her gifts and confront the very reasons the lands were split apart. But first she must stop Eltar from dissolving into civil war. Spurred by her brother's devious policies and thirst for power, the people of the Uplands have surged into revolt. If Emariya cannot convince her own people to stand down and follow her, she will never convince her uncle she can lead all three lands. And he's only given her six months to do it. As soon as she thinks she may have won her own people's hearts, the love of her life, Torian Ahlen begins to lose his mind. When Torian is driven rapidly more insane by visions of his sister's forced wedding to Reeve Warren, Emariya realizes the only way to bring him back from the brink is to rescue his sister. Unfortunately, because of the pull of the Stones, his sister isn't sure she wants to be rescued. When Reeve saved her life, he gave her hope he could still redeem himself and she isn't ready to give up on him. If Emariya is to have any chance at saving Torian's mind and his sister's virtue, she will have to go directly to the source, those that bestowed the gifts (or curse) in the first place. But will whoever is waiting at The Cradle Of The Three be willing to help her? Her only chance to get Terin away from Reeve will be to nullify the pull of the Stones, accepting whatever changes that may mean for her and Torian.