Jason is abducted as a child from Earth and survives in the care of a hard-edged orphanage in The Rime until he reaches the age of "service." Chosen by a young aristocrat, Jan, who has a family history to build on and a long-standing war to win, Jason grows alongside her, navigating her political world while harboring a secret desire to return to Earth and find his lost family. But the Others are bearing down on him and the entire Empire, leaving Jason, Jan, and his friends with irrevocable choices that threaten their deepest desires and ideals.