Kestrel, a 34-year-old former mercenary and scholar of forbidden magic, has spent the last five years in self-imposed exile within the remote Obsidian Spire. Haunted by the ghosts of a devastating battle that left her physically and emotionally scarred, she has sworn off the world of politics and power, finding solace only in her dusty tomes and the cold, silent stone of her tower. Her fragile peace is shattered when Aldwin, a 26-year-old knight of earnest but naive idealism, arrives at her door