"Revolution has broken out in the Forsaken Isles. The islanders have risen up to drive out the Inning Empire, but still they have no one to unite them. Only an Ison can do that--a leader whose heart has been cleansed by the curing ritual of dhota-nur. The power to create an Ison lies in the hands of three people, and none of them are heroes. spaeth has the ancient Lashnura heritage, but does she have the stature? Harg has the miltary genius, but he utterly rejects the price of dhota-nur. And Nathaway, the Inning outsider, finds himself unexpectedly holding the key to the future of the Isles. Perilously poised between Inning conquest and the savage powers of ancient forces, the Forsakens need them to decide. But for an Ison to rise, each of them must betray one of the others."--P. [4] of cover.