Synopsis: When Gird led his peasant people against their Mage-Born rulers, he knew his right hand and sworn follower was the King's bastard. But though Luap had promised to seek no throne, and had renounced his heritage, he could not forget his past - and when he discovered a distant land, which he could reach by magic, he thought he could change his mind. If Gird never knew, it didn't hurt anyone, why not break that Oath? In the distant western mountains, in a sanctuary abandoned by the elder races, Luap finds out why. (adapted from the back cover of the first edition)