In a land torn between magic and alchemy, Sepha is an exceptional alchemist, able to bend the rules in ways no one else can. But when a slip of the tongue lands her in prison with a mountain of straw, even she has to admit that she can't transmute straw into gold. With the threat of a death sentence hanging over her, she's forced to make a deal with a conniving magician.

Sepha escapes with her life--but at a cost: she has one year to alchemically create a body for the magician, or else her firstborn child will be his. As Sepha's deadline approaches, she uncovers a deadly secret. How can she save her country when the body she owes the magician will be used to destroy it?