Sixteen years have passed since "The Shine of the Moon". Takeo and Kaede rule together and in perfect balance between male and female power over the Three Lands. The new prosperity of the country does not remain hidden even from the emperor in distant Miyako and his supreme general, Saga Hideki. The general challenges Takeo to a contest: If he loses, he must not only abdicate and leave his country, but also agree to marry his beautiful daughter Shigeko to Saga. And soon events turn upside down, and a serious betrayal threatens to destroy what Takeo has been fighting for all his life... The whole Otori series at a glance: "The Sword in Silence" "The Path in the Snow" "The Shine of the Moon" "The Call of the Heron" And the prequel: "The Vastness of the Sky".