The crown prince of the Caballians (what we know to be Centaurs) is only a youth. When his father (the king) is murdered, he tries to get on with his life as the new king. He patches his life over with new Caballian friends, and tries to do his best in his new role, earning praise from his people. But when the time comes for him to be married, his beloved becomes the victim of a freak accident in which her leg breaks, a type of fracture that has always been a deadly injury. Can her life be saved? Cleverly interwoven throughout are the stories of the Master Shoemaker (a farrier), the Master...