Stolen from their families, they are slaves, women with no names and no futures. Every moment of their days they are controlled by the avatars of the stone Eyes – Obsidian, Emerald, Raxinan, Ruby, Windcrystal, Sapphire, Sunspar, Tigereye... and the most powerful of them all, Hawkspar, the eyes of time. Kings and despots come to her to know their futures. She wades in the river of time, pulls apart its sticky threads, arranges the world to her satisfaction.
But she too is a slave, plucked from her home, chosen by the Eyes – to live in service to them. And with her sight into past and future, she can see the secrets of the Eyes – and the evil of the Eyes.
Before the death of Hawkspar another must be chosen by the Eyes – but the avatar has her own plans, and choses a slave for her courage and rebelliousness, rather than her dedication to the goals of the Eyes.
The slave is put to trial, and time after time, she is protected by forces unseen. Once she has swallowed the bitter liquid and has her eyes pulled from her head and replaced with the Eyes of Hawkspar stone, she too will be able to slip into the streams of time. She will use time to her own ends – to free the slaves once and for all, and destroy the Eyes, even if it means destroying herself in the process.
