Weyrn the Linnet is the Captain of the Swordmasters, responsible for leading the Mixed-blood elves and protecting them from their enemies. With the help of the other Swordmasters, including his wife Alatani, he maintains a delicate balance among the elves of Duamelti: his own people and the Valley-elves who live alongside them.
But the peace cannot last. Weyrn faces hostility from those who oppose his alliance with the Valley-elves’ king; the shadows of history and the memory of his father; and human settlers appearing in the hills nearby. To all this, he and Alatani add a further challenge: raising their young son.