Devastated by her betrothal to a violent boy she does not love, Jayden is forced to accept her fate as her ancient Mesopotamian tribe moves to the Summer Lands, where she falls for a mysterious youth from the Southern Lands.

Teenage princess Jayden has left her tribe and is alone in the desert, seeking her beloved prince Kadesh and trying to evade her evil fiance, Horeb. When she eventually finds Kadesh, he has been badly injured and scarred, but more ominously, he appears to be keeping secrets from her. Kadesh, Jayden, and the Edomites travel toward Jayden's home kingdom in the southern lands, but they face constant danger from Horeb's army and from the desert itself. They eventually reach the city of Sariba, where Kadesh and his family rule, but now they face even greater threats from power-hungry Aliyah, Kadesh's former fiancee and priestess of the Goddess of Sariba.