Adranatti, the City of Dreams, has fallen far since the height of its glory and influence. For Professor Halir Ashford, explorer, adventurer and historian, Adranatti is meant to just be a port of call as he sails north to the colonies on behalf of the Maedari Commonwealth, but it is not to be. Barely has he arrived than he is drawn into a feud between two princes for control of the throne of Adranatti. Both want him to seek out a legendary lost city deep in the heart of the desert, said to contain great wealth.
With his companions, Abhiala, his student and the daughter of the man who saved his life, Caerohir, an old friend from his days as a Hussar fighting in a foreign war, and Marassi and Logawa, bitter rivals and agents of the two princes, he sets out to find it.
The deserts hold many dangers, but the greatest may lie within the lost city itself.
