Fatima is shaken by the sudden death of her archnemesis, Tolui, the hero of the conquest of Jin. House Tolui's might had been a heavy weight disturbing the balance of power in the Empire-now the scales have flipped on their head. In this new unstable world, Fatima finds herself being headhunted by the empress Boraqchin, who wants her sharp mind to help draw up plans for expanding the Empire... But the whole situation still feels wrong to Fatima, who runs off to save Töregene, currently under arrest due to suspicions that she poisoning the Khaan!