The book centres around Rinna (Rin), Razo's fifteen-year-old sister who still lives in the Forest with their large family (known as Agget-kin).

She returns home but continues to be afraid that if she speaks to people as she did to her niece, she will lose Ma's love.

After that day the wrongness begins to eat at her again, and she buries and distorts the memory of her time with Wilem.

Soon after Wilem, Razo and his girl Dasha return from Bayern's capital to visit the homestead.

After a few weeks another waiting woman named Cilie returns and demands to spend time with Tusken.

Rin, who has always been good at reading people's faces, feels that Cilie wishes the boy harm and tells the queen.

Isi's best friend, Enna, is planning her wedding to Finn when Bayern's Own, the king's personal hundred-band, is called out to one of the villages near the border of Kel, a neighbouring country.

A few days after they leave a messenger returns and tells Isi that they were attacked by fire.

Rin, desperate to save her, once again breaks her rules and uses powerful words to make him let go of the child.

She captures the fire sisters but Rin, using her tree-speaking, manages to escape and free Razo and Tusken from the cage.

Razo, Rin, and Tusken spend several days in the wood, avoiding soldiers and making a plan.

Razo says he will attempt to rescue the fire sisters, but Rin discovers that he is injured and insists that she goes instead.

Selia tells her that Tusken is caught and Razo was killed, then throws her in the dungeon with the fire sisters.

The next day Selia takes Isi and tries to convince her to sign a document naming her the ruler of Bayern's eastern provinces.

When Isi resists Selia gets angry and tells her fire-speakers to hurt her, but they go too far and accidentally kill her.

She searches the castle for Tusken but has no luck, and is re-captured when Isi and Selia enter the room she is in.

Selia's voice still affects her though, and in an effort to stop her speaking Rin punches her in the nose.

Selia, frantic and crazed, throws herself out the window crying, “I will die a queen.” Isi and Rin return to the wood to find Razo and Tusken.

When King Scandlan arrives he is still affected by Selia, so Rin speaks truths to him to help him heal.

She discovers that she needs balance, that tree-speaking centres her and makes her stable, while people-speaking branches her out towards light and people.