Queen Ariane, Longswordsman Corin an Fol and friends, having narrowly sprung the trap in Crenna, sail south in pursuit of the lost prince, Tarin, and missing fragments of the crystal crown - the Tekara. Zallerak, a mysterious Warlock/bard, has joined their cause, informing them that Tarin is bound for the Permio Deserts, to seek the blind Smith-God who will re-forge the crown to redress his earlier crimes. Corin doesn't trust Zallerak although the bard's trickery has helped them twice. Despite Corin's misgivings, Ariane believes their only hope now lies in taking the bard's advice, and...

She is waiting by the water's edge. When Richard and Kate Harrison venture exhausted into The Haven (a quiet Cornish cove) they happen upon strange events. Richard - unhappy and lost - is haunted by the vision of a beautiful stranger. Fascinated and obsessed, he is soon ensnared in a very dangerous game. Nothing is as it seems, the past has returned to take hold over the present. Their marriage falling apart; Kate and Richard watch their world dissolve as spiralling events threaten their very existence.

The deeper Richard digs into the Haven's dark secret the more trapped he becomes....