As full moons come and go attempts to find the missing daughter of Aegea's new ruler and her servant covertly continue. Only those in possession of the scant clues persist in the hope that the women are alive.

Ty McClaren strives for the right to be included in a high-risk mission across the vast tangle of jungle that some call the Poison Forest and others have named the Land of Cloud and Leaf. On the other side of it, he hopes to find that his sister and the woman he loves have survived with people of legend: the Exiles who live on the shore of a great ocean?something no Aegean has seen.

Walking among the Exiles, the two women are learning how to abide in a place as unlike Aegea as another world. One of them feels herself sinking under the weight of secrets, sorrows, and regrets. The other feels as if she's coming alive.