Street urchins have been turning up missing in the great desert city of Sharakhai. Few care until the son of one of the city's richest patrons goes missing as well. The apothecary named Dardzada wants nothing to do with it, but his shrewd mind and skills as an apothecary make him indispensable to his cruel half-brother Layth, the captain of the guard tasked with solving the mystery. When Layth insists he look deeper into the kidnappings, Dardzada is drawn into a struggle much larger than he ever anticipated, and he realizes it will take all his wits to get himself out again.