In a dark land of desperate treaties and even more desperate treaty-breakers, one reluctant judge discovers that in the desert, the letter of the law supersedes its spirit and that entering the City of the Sultans alive is no guarantee of leaving it the same way.
Following the Trial of Reckoning, Kij expects to return home in triumph, having both rendered and carried out her judgment as required by the Great Treaty. But she quickly learns that her unusual verdict will have repercussions far beyond the Judgment Chamber; it may well result in her own ruin and the loss of everything she holds dear.
