No moon maiden should bear a child aboard the House of Sin and Silk, yet a babe who shouldn't be grows in Mara's belly. She worries for her child even as she dreams of a future beyond the pleasure barge. Despite the flowing dresses and soft curves, there's no room for an infant who brings no profit aboard a ship solely built to turn one. On the eve of Harvest Festival, fate pushes Mara on a course that will test her strength, her courage, and her love. A woman who knows nothing but her gilded, floating cage will journey through a city where an ancient darkness rises against the dying light. Cloaked in ashen burlap with an infant in her arms, a slave with no last name will determine if hope rises with the sun or if the next Harvest Festival will be the reaping of mankind.