11th century North Africa. Hela has powers too strong for a child – both to feel the pain of those around her and to heal them. But when she is given a mysterious cup by a slave woman, its powers overtake her life, forcing her into a vow she cannot hope to keep.
Trapped by her vow, Hela loses one chance after another to love and be loved. Meanwhile, in her household, a child is born. Zaynab will one day become Morocco’s queen and Hela’s actions are already shaping her destiny.
Can a great healer ever heal her own wounds? Will Hela turn her back on her vow or follow it through to the bitter end? And will her choices forever warp the character of Morocco’s greatest queen, and so shape the destiny of a future empire?
