The stubborn, spoiled, favored granddaughter of the Devi goddess Astoreth, Moreva Tehi has failed to perform her sacred duty and now she must be punished for her transgression. Temporarily banished from Temple life, she is dispatched to Mjor-a backwater village in the Syren Perritory-to assume the roles of custodian of the landing beacon as well as the spiritual leader and commander of Astoreth's garrison stationed there. In this perilous place of wild beasts, outmoded technologies, and harsh seasonal change, a fragile peace exists between the distrustful and the hated Devi, held together by an iron-clad Protocol-whose laws, if broken, could lead to war. She will discover an ally in the kindly village healer Hyme and a dangerous adversary in Kepten Yose, her subordinate. But the gravest threat to Tehi's future is the Mjoran chief, the charismatic, golden-haired Laerd Teger, whose elusiveness and cool disdain the Moreva finds both infuriating and fascinating. For it is he who will impel her to break her most sacred vows and seek out the dark secrets of her gods and her world, setting them both on a course that can only lead to damnation and death.