Come to the world of the River. A world distant in time and space, a world where the pace os life is counted by the tides of the great River; but where, as in the river itself, there are swift dark currents flowing under a placid surface. Meet Pamra Don - a young woman scarred by her mother's death, lured to a priesthood where the truth must be hidden from the faithful. And Thrasne, a young boatmanwho trades from town to town, free from the iron control of the Towers of the Awakeners...as long as he never speaks his mind. These two, by design and accident both, are about to discover many truths. And on Northshore, the truth can kill you.