While visiting the planet Corbice Lord Daniel Emryk and his apprentice, Larissa Raymond disappear. The planet holds the key to Larissa's mysterious past. On the verge of his initiation into the Empress' Cadre, sixteen-year-old Aethan Ghais is sent to find them. The son of the second most powerful woman in the Imperium and a trained assassin, his life has not been his own. He sees the assignment as his chance at freedom. Before he can act on that, he is caught up in the politics of a world on the eve of civil war where the prize is control of the apprentice Larissa. Aethan must find a way to unravel the politics, avoid war, keep Corbice's ruler alive, and somehow rescue the missing Cadre members.