In the old days, before the ice, people talked to the spirits directly. But people came to forget how to do that when they narrowed their focus. There were few left who could do it—the truthsayers mostly, but even they had forgotten how to read the stones. So when it came to predicting the future, they couldn't see very far. They did confirm the rumor that an invasion by the southern empire was imminent. How the people dealt with this news was up to each of them. Most would fight, of course, and those who wouldn't or couldn't hoped the invaders would treat them fairly.

Meelah will fight; she is a warrior, after all. But she is also a widowed mother and the daughter of a truthsayer, conflicting duties with conflicting purposes. With a clash of cultures looming over her, she begins to question her ways and decide for herself what parts are worth saving. She searches in vain for truth and concludes that the best she can do is to find her own truth—because, in the end, her own truth is all that she can take with her.