Timu Maarinen has spent a blissful boyhood on his family's large estate, exploring the countryside, observing the ways of creatures wild and domestic. But his destiny, according to his family, is in the hazardous world of Vaaselian politics, and the entre to that world is the diplomatic service school.
Any child of the nobility who shows telepathic ability attends the school at some point. The best and the brightest go on to government service. Timu's abilities are so great, and his family's position so important, that in spite of his stubborn laziness in academics, he can't contrive to get himself expelled.
As Timu's last year in school approaches, three compelling forces combine to shake him out of slackerdom. The primary force is his older sister, Elian, a progressive scholar, betrothed to the heir to the throne. Timu loves his sister deeply, and believes her ascent to the throne as Prince Renhold's consort is inevitable. When she pleads with him to take an interest in history and politics, for the sake of his family and their progressive causes, he guiltily vows to comply with her wishes.
The interest of his younger schoolfellow, Lady Aulia Taarko, helps him stick to his decision. Aulia is the idealistic only child of a secretly progressive family; she's talented, intelligent, and pretty, and she has a crush on Timu. When she offers to help Timu in his studies he's grateful for her assistance and returns her friendship, though he remains oblivious to her deeper feelings.
The third force that propels him is the hardest to resist. A chance meeting in the forest makes him the target of Lady Rilsa Karula's considerable powers of seduction. An expert player of political factions for her own selfish interests, Rilsa has the means to help Timu advance quickly in the diplomatic service. She also has the means to appeal to his dormant instincts for sexual pleasure, and she employs those means relentlessly.
The currents set in motion by these three women carry Timu into the heart of the Vaaselian power struggle. As the aide of the traditionalist head of the diplomatic service, Timu is a trusted communications and security expert when crisis approaches. The traditionalist faction, under the guidance of Lord Chancellor Valmur Karoli, is engaged in a covert plot to destroy its progressive opposition, in particular the Maarinen family. Timu and Aulia must work together to uncover the plot, though their philosophical differences and Timu's misjudgments threaten to thwart them.
