Skye, a half blood with two conflicting natures, fails in his struggle for balance when he "borrows" a magical pearl from his only friend, a forest sprite. He yearns to return the pearl, but it is the only thing that protects him from the soul-eating king he is required to serve as a musician. Elsewhere in the kingdom, Peregrine, a face reader of an outlawed race driven toward extinction, searches for that last remnant, which Skye represents. Her companion is a goddess-touched parrot with his own agenda.