In the three years since Tiger and Del's fateful meeting, these mismatched companions have become true partners: their alliance forged by blood, magic, danger, adventure ... and perhaps something more.Exiled from both the North and the South, without home or duty, the two have now set sail to search for Tiger's homeland. He has been told he resembles the people who come from the island of Skandi, and now, nearly forty years after his birth, Tiger seeks the truth.But no journey is ever without complications for Tiger and Del. Shipwrecked, nearly drowned, abducted by pirates, bedeviled by magic and those who would use the pair for their own ends, the Southron sword-dancer and the Northern sword-singer finally do arrive at Skandi, but as captives of a pirate captain who plans to extort one of the wealthiest families on the island by claiming that Tiger is their long-lost heir.With Del held as insurance against his good behavior, Tiger has no choice but to cooperate. But once he meets the family matriarch, his innate honesty leads to a surprising possibility: that Tiger might in fact be this long-lost heir.But before that possibility can be resolved, Tiger must face another truth about himself which may prove more dangerous than any sword-dance: his own personal brand of magic, long denied by Tiger, is recognized by another man as something very special. Read Less