Delaney desperately wants the admiration of her mother, "Blood Queen" Eilat, even if recognition means beheading a man. Now of age, she must assume her role as heiress of Clan Dodatrad, thrust into a world of fragile alliances. Clan Glitrós sees this warmongering clan as a filthy spot on the patchwork quilt of clans that knits the land of Ashby in a tentative peace. They warn Delaney that many mysteries surround her birth, and druids had a hand in it.With the help of her friends, Delaney digs into her clan's dark secrets, Eilat's bloody past, her brother's mysterious coven of druids, avaricious schemers at every turn, and a "ghost" in the dungeon who apparently knows the truth. She falls in love despite the tradition of arranged marriages, tries to balance explosive clan politics, battles forest bandits, competes in archery contests, and deals with the trials of womanhood in a medieval world.