 Meiya is dead, and hostile forces have command of the Emperor's regency.Wounded, desperate and cut off from his supporters, Saukendar runs for the border.In a homemade cabin high in the hills Saukendar survives crippled and alone, his warhorse Jiro and his regrets his only company, while the empire is bled by the rapacious warlords that are regent to the Emperor.