He enlists into this cause his cousin Tasaio, the cruel military genius who had managed to send Mara's father and brother to their deaths without breaking any laws or losing honor.
The Minwanabi plot to kill the Acoma military commander Keyoke and then force Mara into a campaign in the faraway desert lands of Dustari.
Tasaio is exiled for his failure against Mara, but ascends to Lord of the Minwanabi after Desio's death in battle on the barbarian world of Midkemia.
However, Mara manages to influence Ichindar and manipulate the High Council to thwart Tasaio's ambitions and destroy the Minwanabi once and for all.
John C. Burnell of Dragon wrote that the while the novel "avoids most of the usual problems associated with middle volumes of trilogies", Feist and Wurts "don't stop to explain some previously-covered aspects of Tsurani culture, so newcomers may feel underinformed about the insectoid cho-ja or the backgrounds of certain secondary characters.