Sioned is comforted by a vision of herself with Rohan's child at her breast, although she knows she cannot bear his baby. She suffers a series of miscarriages, and the entire realm is decimated by Plague in the ensuing years. Rohan and Sioned are married and return to the Desert, but Sioned fails to conceive a hoped-for heir. Roelstra gives Pandsala and the new baby, named Chiana (for 'treason' in an old language), to Andrade.

In return, she is granted the castle of Feruche, an important outpost on the border between Roelstra's and Rohan's lands. Ianthe betrays Palila and her sister, and gains her father's trust. Rohan and Roelstra ultimately spar over Sioned, and Roelstra is infuriated to discover Rohan played him for a fool. They bring four pregnant waiting-women along, planning to induce labor in them when Palila's begins. Pandsala, thinking Roelstra will marry her to Prince Rohan if Palila helps her, plans to turn the tables on Ianthe and help Palila switch another daughter for a boy. Roelstra's eldest daughter, Princess Ianthe, schemes with her sister Pandsala to switch Palila's baby for a girl if it is a son. His latest mistress, Lady Palila, is pregnant during the Rialla. Despite a marriage and a series of mistresses, he never succeeds at conceiving a son and heir. High Prince Roelstra is an evil, cunning man and the father of seventeen daughters. Roelstra, in turn, is interested in Sioned, both as a woman and a faradhi. The other princes initially believe the masquerade. Rohan pretends to be a foolish, ignorant young man. Sioned pretends to be unsure of Rohan as her groom, and the two have a merry time with their charade at the tri-annual Rialla (a fair and gathering of princes).

Rohan persuades Sioned to help him trick High Prince Roelstra into signing various treaties while he pretends to choose between princesses. Marriage between a prince and a Sunrunner is unheard of, but Rohan is smitten by a vision of Sioned that Andrade conjures in fire for him.

To decline a royal marriage would in turn insult Roelstra, so she offers a marriage with Sioned, another of her Sunrunners. His aunt, Andrade, the Lady of Goddess Keep and highest ranking of the faradhi, or Sunrunners, gifted humans who can use light to communicate, warns that the High Prince will try to take over the Desert by marrying one of his daughters to Rohan and then killing him. He must solidify his right to rule by outwitting The Desert's antagonists, chiefly the High Prince Roelstra, in order to protect his lands and maintain peace throughout the world. His father, Prince Zehava, is unsure of his son's ability to rule, but is wounded in a dragon hunt and Rohan is suddenly the ruling Prince. Rohan is heir to the throne of The Desert and its chief holding, Stronghold.

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