The remote residence of the disgraced young Lady Blackwater. The ancient ancestral home of the Blackwaters is now rundown. Remote, and half abandoned, it is cavernous and dank, echoing and chill, perfect for the reclusive Ladies’ retreat to her obsessions.

When Shay arrives, hungry and shaking, desperate and fearful, she is relieved to find work in the household. For she can bide her time for the answers she desperately seeks. But as the mountainous lands of forest from which the Barony of talon and claw draw strength is wild and unforgiving, so is there a wildness awaiting within.