Cadvan of Lirigon, one of the most brilliant Bards of his generation, has been exiled for a terrible crime that unleashed the power of the Bone Queen and wrought destruction across Annar. Meanwhile, in Lirigon, several unnerving events suggest that the Dark is growing in strength again, and that the Bone Queen may yet lurk in the world. Cadvan must once again face the evil that almost destroyed him.