Fresh out of the Trials that made them fugitives, Laia and Elias escape Serra just as a Scholar rebellion destroys much of the city. Elias swore to help Laia rescue her brother, Darin--whose knowledge of Serric steel is necessary for the furtherance of the rebellion--from the deadly Kauf prison. They are dogged by none other than Helene, Elias's friend from childhood, who has become the evil Emperor's new Blood Shrike--an assassin who must hunt down the two fugitives or else forfeit her own family's lives.

Maps on endpapers. Sequel to: An ember in the ashes.