Ling Qi’s time in the Argent Peak Sect has come to an end. She is the Baroness Ling, retainer to the heiress of the Emerald Seas, and her duty is to oversee and mediate the Summit, which she and Cai Renxiang have struggled to make take place. On it rides the chance to weave a fragile peace with the strange people who live beyond the high southern mountains and the tribesmen of the Cloud who align with them. War is already at the Empire’s doorstep; this will be their chance to limit the number of foes they must face. It is an unpopular thing, though, to treat with the foreign, to negotiate as equals. Many eyes watch, seeking the failure of the heiress and the ideas that Ling Qi represents.