As his mission draws to an end Patrin begins to ask himself what remains? It is a question not of direction, but of identity ... Leaving the north country with Arbren's word of help, Patrin, Xadik, and Ylva head to Arnkept, but Patrin believes that the Sentinels lurk in the shadows. Forced to chart their course across hundreds of unmapped miles of wilderness to reach the only safe haven, Northmarch, they find that their enemies have widened their net, and the only friends they have want to use them for a dangerous theft. If they survive, the Sentinels await them in Whitefield-- and this time, they will not be denied their quarry. With no word from Galin, and the king's army mustering against Arbren's forces, the two friends prepare to walk into the lion's mouth. For Xadik, it is his just service to the man who would be king, but for Patrin it is the end of his oath to a friend that betrayed him.