Grand lady, prophetic subject, and Sorceress unsurpassed Ionia of Amissopolis knows that the end of one story is only the beginning of another. As she seeks to stop that story before it ends in another tragedy, a strange, violet-haired girl emerges at a remote tavern, unable to speak any modern language. Taken in by the tavernkeep and her bookish man-of-all-work, she must learn to be human. But is that all she is? And where love is concerned, does it matter?