One year since the godsgem cured the king of Cadrium and enacted what seems like becoming a golden age, Apprentice Knight Kalanthe Ironheart finds that the fame and songs about her and her companions can't help her pay off her loans--to make ends meet, she may be forced to betray her own heart. Olsa Rhetsdaughter, too, who as a beggar and thief never felt meant for heroism, finds herself pulled into Kalanthe's orbit, but her fame has made her chosen profession even more difficult, forcing her to choose between poverty or something worse. The only chance for these girls is each other--and the godsgem is not quite done with either of them.