A prisoner in the forbidden harem of the great Stone Palace of Percheron, Ana inflames the desires of every man who sees her, even as she fears for her future. The city's beloved protector, Spur Lazar, offered up his life for her, accepting punishment intended for the bewitching odalisque. Now, without Lazar's guiding hand, Percheron has become a darker, more treacherous place. Mistrusting the machinations of Herezah, his mother--who plots to destroy the odalisque Ana--the young Zar Boaz seeks counsel from the suddenly changed and dangerously secretive "Grand Vizier," counsel he desperately needs. War threatens from a distant realm; the cyclical battle of the gods intensifies; and the first of the Goddess's disciples is claimed by the demon Maliz. But all schemes must ultimately rise and fall on one unknown truth: Spur Lazar lives still, recovering in secret from the illness that has left him the gift of a curse.