Baltazar Malan is born marked — his mother's blood drawn down him, collarbone to hip, and a Sight he never wanted. An Empire is closing on his family's land, and a captain wearing a dead man's name is hunting him for a stolen life. Book One of an epic of South Africa's frontier and war years.
He has seen the trekbokke cover the Karoo from horizon to horizon. He has seen the Augrabies drop off the edge of the world. He has seen the Sight open in him like a wound that does not close. He has seen all of it, and buried most of it. Out of the fire one of them walked back up the hill. Baltazar Malan learns this the day he is born, when his mother dies to give him a sight he never wanted, drawn down him in her own blood, collarbone to hip — a mark he will carry forever. He learns it again on the road north, where an Empire is closing on his family’s land and a captain wearing a dead man’s name is hunting him for a stolen life. And he learns it from Elena Devereux, who crossed an ocean to escape a marriage she refused and does not mean to be handed to another — she, who will cost him more than the Empire ever can. The Winterberg. The Karoo. De Kaap. Kimberley. And a reckoning that was set for him the day he drew first breath.
