There are three absolutes in Mairi Wallace's world:

1. The Mages rule every city in Scotland with terrible, violent authority.

2. It is not physically possible for any woman to wield magic.

3. Mairi does not have a voice.

She is about to learn that none of these things have to be true.

From twisted wynds and tartan shops to a dangerous daemon and malevolent ravens, the future of a tattered nation might lie with one solitary woman.