Far from the land of her birth, Moirin sets out across Tatar territory to find Bao, the proud and virile Ch'in fighter who holds the missing half of her "diadh-anam," the divine soul-spark of her mother's people. After a long ordeal, she not only succeeds, but surrenders to a passion the likes of which she's never known. But the lovers' happiness is short lived, for Bao is entangled in a complication that soon leads to their betrayal.

Just when King Daniel asks Moirin to be the oath-sworn protector of his daughter, he is sent on a quest by the spirit of Queen Jehanne, who tells him that he must first bring home Prince Thierry to rule.