The heroine is a living ship which has feelings and can talk. On the death of its master it is inherited by a man who wants to use it for transporting slaves. The ship is against this and forms an alliance with the man's sister who had hoped to inherit it and now plots to get it.

As Bingtown slides toward disaster, clan matriarch Ronica Vestrit, branded a traitor, searches for a way to bring the city's inhabitants together against the Chalcedean threat. Meanwhile, Althea Vestrit, unaware of what has befallen Bingtown and her family, continues her perilous quest to track down and recover her liveship Vivacia from the ruthless pirate Kennit. Bold though it is, her scheme may be in vain. For her beloved Vivacia will face the...