Wendell's life has always been difficult and pointless as he wanders the streets, seeking comfort in a bard's fleeting song or getting hired to chase crows away. When he sees the king's strange, sad daughter in a painting, it is only another thing to forget about before returning to the dust of the city. But when she is suddenly found missing, the truths hiding in her eyes will be lost forever... unless he can persuade the king to send him out, with only an old, beaten dagger and the riddles of a storyteller to guide him through places of darkness and ruined beauty. Along the way, he may learn that the wind does more than whisper, and all that is gold does not always glitter. But the old stories have deeper secrets than anyone can remember anymore, secrets that only a whisper knows.