Civil war on the world of the atevi is finally over. Even the complex shifts of power that inevitably follow any war are mostly sorted out. Bren Cameron, brilliant human diplomat allied with the dominant Western Association, has finally returned to the capital from the southern coast, where he negotiated a daring redistribution of the atevi legislature - one that grants certain of the remaining rebel provinces political stature. But Bren's official duties have undergone a critical change.
Since the War of the Landing, hundreds of years before, when the atevi nearly eradicated the humans on their planet and exiled those who survived to the island of Mospheira, Bren's post had been held by solitary translators between the endangered, but technologically advanced, human society and the atevi of the mainland. But in the years that Bren has held that position, the world has changed.
Humans and atevi now interface daily on a shared space station and have traveled to the stars together. But rather than becoming extraneous, Bren's stature in the atevi world has only increased. He still wears the white ribbon that represents his office, but now he performs the duties of that office in the ancient manner originally intended, objectively negotiating between atevi adversaries. It was in this capacity that he had achieved a reformation of congress that ended the bloodshed of civil war.
Now, back in his old apartments in the capital, Bren has settled into the home he knew prior to the war. But life at the atevi court is never easy. Though his position has changed, Bren's political affiliations remain - he is still allied with Tabini-aiji, head of the Western Association. And Bren has also developed a close relationship with Tabini's young son Cajeiri, who was with Bren in space.
Cajeiri is within a few days of his fortunate ninth birthday, and his father has firmly promised that his son's young human associates from the space station can come down to the planet for his birthday celebration.
But things are not going well within the aiji's own household. For Tabini's political marriage seems to be splintering, and Cajeiri's mother may be less than trustworthy.
Can Bren protect Cajeiri and the unsuspecting human children who are to be his guests in an atevi household that is on the brink of political explosion?