In Morning Glory's dream, she holds a rock in which she finds everything dear to her: her home, her mother, the flash of sunlight and the freshness of green pastures. Her dream comes true when she obtains the splinter of a soul-gem, an artifact of a galactic empire that has sealed her homeland off for a slave-breeding habitat. More than a memento of the past, the splinter is part of a key to the future of all the galaxy's people. Once united with her long-lost brother, Morning Glory plans to use the splinter to wrest control of the empire from Whorl, the false god who slaughtered all her family except her brother. Whorl knows her plans and laughs. And there are voices still more troublesome, voices warning that she must ally herself with Whorl in order to defeat a greater evil posed by the very brother she seeks.