Ever since he and his older sister were wrenched from their royal home in the Dark City, IZENZON has suffered a lifetime of indignity. Doomed as pawns to their captor, the Drukhari siblings have grown up as indentured kabalites — prisoner-warriors kept alive only for their political leverage. Despising his enslaver, the dread-Archon SHAVISTÉ, the covetous IZENZON bides his time planning for the day when he can reclaim his birthright. When an opportunity for vengeance finally presents itself through a strange gift, familial bonds will be frayed as a bloody coup begins in the hedonistic Dark City of Commorragh.