What they find is Firekeeper, a strange, feral young woman just the age of Barden's daughter, Blysse. Hanging from a thong around her neck are some flint stones for striking fire, and Prince Barden's own knife.

Firekeeper only vaguely remembers a time when she didn't live with her "family", a pack of "royal wolves" -- bigger, stronger, and smarter than normal wolves. Now her pack leaders are sending her back to live among the humans, as they promised her mother years ago. With her goes her best friend, the wolf called Blind Seer, who's along for the adventure. In the months to come, learning to behave like a human will turn out to be more complicated than she'd ever imagined. The question of the royal succession is heating up, and Firekeeper will find herself at the center of a tangle of intrigues.