The secret war among the Shadows of the Name is escalating, and there arehints that it is not so secret as the Shadows had thought. The scarred man,Donovan buigh, half honored guest and half prisoner, is carried deeper intothe Confederation, all the way to Holy Terra herself, to help plan the rebelassault on the Secret City. If he does not soon remember the key informationlocked inside his fractured mind, his rebel friends may resort to torture topull it from his subconscious.Meanwhile, Bridget ban has organized a posse—apack of Hounds—to go in pursuit of her kidnapped daughter, despite knowingthat Ravn Olafsdottr kidnapped the harper precisely to lure Bridget ban in herwake. The Hound, the harper, and the scarred man wind deeper into a web ofdeceit and treachery certain of only one thing: nothing, absolutely nothing,is what it seems to be.