Green Rider Sir Karigan G'ladheon returns from her unexpected trip through time in her traditional disruptive style, materialising above the great banquet hall and crashing through the mid-winter feast.

Karigan tries to regain a sense of normality, recover from her injuries and move on from the heartbreak she suffered when Cade Harlow was ripped from her as she crossed over the threshold of time.

Once Karigan leaves the castle, the Aureas Slee stealthily spirits King Zachary away to its lair in the frozen north and assumes his place, fooling everyone, including the Queen.

Each step on Karigan's journey northward grows more perilous as she faces attacks from groundmites, encounters with ghosts, and, ultimately, the threat of the necromancer and leader of Second Empire, Grandmother, as they approach the enemy encampment in the Lone Forest.

The king is right in the midst of the danger and Karigan is called upon by the god Westrion to mount his steed Salvistar and appear as his avatar to contain the dark creatures and seal the portal.

The reception she and Enver receive is mixed and strained, but Karigan uses her mirror eye to show the p'ehdrose a future where they are hunted to extinction.

Spencer was posted in the eastern coastal towns, and finally received a tip off that he took a ship to a small island, and she sends word that she plans to follow him.