Female Cullen is married off to Hanar, an Avvar chief, in order to secure passage through the Frostback Basin. She struggles to come to grips with her new life as she become pregnant far earlier than expected, and struggles with the depression of being tossed aside as a pawn. Slowly, she and Hanar find their way together, and Cullen finds a home.

In which Kix figures some things out, and human pregnancies do not happen overnight.

The War against Byakuran had been desperate, and the backlash against something he tried had thrown him back in time. He made a plan, but ...