The seventh in the Shadows of the Apt series Tynisa is running, but she cannot escape the demons of her own mind. Amid the fragmenting provinces of the Dragonfly Commonweal her past will at last catch up with her. Her father's ghost is hunting her down. At the same time, the Wasp Empress, Seda, is on the move, and her eyes are on the city of Khanaphes, the fallen jewel of the ancient world. While her soldiers seek only conquest, she sees herself as the heir to all the old powers of history, and has her eyes on a far greater prize.