Though her memory remains clouded by sorcery, Imrhien must take vital news directly to the King-Emperor of Caermelor. She hopes that there she may also find Thorn, the fearless ranger who has won her heart. She assumes the identity of 'Rohain', a noblewoman visiting from the distant Sorrow Isles, but finds the King and his rangers heading off to battle the Unseelie hordes. While she awaits the King's return, the newcomer Rohain is trapped in her subterfuge, facing a court where treachery and deceit are as deadly as any eldritch peril. Worse still, attacks by nightmare monsters of the Wild Hunt grow ever more frequent and brutal, and when evil forces lay siege to the royal sanctuary on a hidden mystic island, she realises with horror that she herself is the real target of these onslaughts, but has no idea why.