In the land of Allothi-A rebellion in the region known as the Realm has freed the servitors from their ariston masters. It has also ruined Grayall of Wellworth's life. The unrest in the Realm has destroyed her family's trading enterprise. Worse, the man she loved has died fighting for the rebel cause. Returning from the journey to learn his fate, Grayall comes upon one of the hated ariston rulers, Zorn of Northmarch, abandoned and badly injured.

Grayall wants nothing more than to leave this "aristo" to suffer an apparently well-deserved death, but she cannot. She takes Zorn to the safety of the outlying village of Arandell. There a good friend, Traina, a physician, lives with her ward Brandon.

Upon arriving, Grayall finds that Brandon has been accused of a brutal murder. With the villagers convinced of his guilt, his best hope of exoneration rests on Zorn, the outsider. But Grayall fears that the coldly arrogant ariston, embittered by the collapse of the Realm, will not care whether a village boy like Brandon lives or dies.