Horrible screams pierce the night air as the Daystar, Queen Hesta of Akhemony, wrestles with the delivery of the King's child. Heir to the throne of Oceaxis, she is beautifully formed except for one heartbreaking deformity - she is born without feet. Consigned immediately to the domain of death, the lame infant is dispatched to Thon, the underworld temple, and baptized Cemira - "snake" - the name she will bear throughout a lifetime of darkness. It is only at the behest of Urdombis, the Sun Consort, that Cemira is wrested from the temple of death, renamed Callistra, and restored to her rightful place in the kingdom.