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Only those born with the Bard's gift could learn to call the kigh--the spirits of earth, air, fire, and water--to do their bidding. For Princess Annice, who could sing the elemental spirits from each of the four quarters, the lure of that magic was too strong to be denied, even if it meant renouncing her royal privileges.

Bannon and Vree, brother and sister, they are assassins of the highest caliber who have long plied their trade for the Havalkeen army. But all their skill and experience cannot save them from a magic-sprung trap that will see the two forced to share one body when the very man they've been sent to assassinate steals Bannon's body for himself. How long brother and sister can coexist in one body neither can guess. And so they set out to catch and defeat this foe who has already bested them once.

But when Bannon and Vree confront this master of a magic beyond their comprehension, he offers them a terrible choice - to continue their new dual existence forever, or to betray the Empire they have served all their lives. For it is not control of Bannon's body which is Gyhard's true goal but rather the body - and with it the identity and power - of the Imperial Prince.

Gyhard and Vree have abandoned the Empire for the kingdom of Shkoder, hoping to enlist the bards' aid in finding Gyhard a body of his own. But there are those who have more insidious plans for them--those who will stop at nothing to exact revenge upon Gyhard no matter whose body he's in.

Queen Jelena of Shkoder has decided to start her reign by commissioning a ship to undertake the exploration of uncharted waters in search of the homeland of the legendary Dark Sailor. When disaster strikes, the bard Benedikt -- who Sings only One Quarter, that of Water -- is hopelessly stranded with no way to get word back to the queen. Washed up on the shores of a distant land, Benedikt is claimed by his rescuers as a pawn in their intricate and perilous game of politics and religion. Can this One Quarter bard find a Song that will let him survive without disturbing the precarious power balance of a civilization he barely understands?