Leaf the Lucky (or Luckless?) has stolen a pearl, a magnificent, but cursed, orb. Master Harnd of Harnden Manor, his sorceror Sneydmar the Magnifikant, and Lanthene the Manimonean, endeavor to recover the gem, but they failed to account for Gladdis of Rowanswood and her witchly power. Far away, El’Zabet, Empyress of All The Realms, has had a dream. A lovely young woman is imprisoned by a filthy beast of a man and cries out for succor. As she wanders about her war-torn nation, she rights wrongs and shakes up routine, but never forgets her quest. Can she find the woman in her dreams before it’s too late? Is her power sufficient to take the Purple Orb without her own destruction? A high fantasy novel of unusual nature. The use of language is a character in itself. The women of Taluria are powerful: Gladdis is a Dark Witch, a Priestess of Kalidha-Axtah, The Destroyer, and does not suffer fools at all, much less gladly; El'Zabet is Empyress, only 13, yet wise beyond her years. The story moves along like a river, sometimes slowly and placidly, sometimes in a rush, and there are dangerous currents and eddies.