Her husband and beloved son assassinated, Tathea, once Queen of Shinabar, is alone and in exile. Numbed by grief, she takes refuge in the Lost Lands, where she tries desperately to find meaning in a life that has robbed her of her family, her home and her country. But in her quest for the truth, which takes her far beyond the physical world she knows, she discovers that it does not come without cost - terrible cost.