Twenty-year-old Raden Wade is a human carpenter living in the elven kingdom of Enicia. In the wake of a forest fire, he rescues an elderly elf raving about dead birds, a lost sister, and an attack on her House. With his livelihood burned and destitution threatening his grandparents, the mad crone may be his only hope.

Leoni, sister of the House of Time, tries to prove herself in her studies and weapons' training. Raised in solitude with her mentor and raven, Leoni must master her arts if she is to protect the secrets forming the bedrock of the Enician monarchy. Some secrets hurt those who serve them, and an orphaned apprentice is no exception.

When their paths cross, unlikely alliances form. A quest begins to save the Houses. Fraught with ancient politics, giants, face-stealing shape-shifters, and betrayal, their search for truth leads them to reevaluate everything they know. If the Houses fall, the kingdom falls. Will two millennia of peace end in blood, or can Raden and Leoni change the wings of fate?