In a single moment of defiance, driven by a rash act of compassion for a stranger, Rhodri turns his back on his unit, his country and his comrades in arms. Taken in by the Plains Hawk tribe, he finds compassion, love, and a new purpose for his unique memory. But just as he is beginning to accept his decision, an invasion from the east throws the tribe into chaos, and threatens to destroy the new life he has built.Rhodri must rally the tribes to take on his former comrades, his former friends, and fight the forces of the crown he swore to protect—and the sister he has never known. Thrust into the role of leader, he must use the very lessons he learned in the King’s Third against his closest friends, and his most bitter enemy.