Rovan Varrion is a slave. He works in the gold mines of northern Porfrice, enduring the stifling warmth of work during the day and the freezing mountain chill at night; when his friend dies and an opportunity for freedom comes along, he takes it, not knowing what awaits him nor what the price of true liberty is. Tessa Silantia works in the dizzying heights of the Alchemist's Tower, striving to create something that would change the world, and for the better. Yet it is her world that is changed when she realises that members of her guild are plotting to kill the Emperor and seize the throne...