Not long after the beginning of this book, we find Cal working in a brothel. In a society where sex, known as aruna, is as easy and unfettered as breathing, it is not until he enters the brothel, broke and destitute, that he wonders why there is such a need. He soon discovers that it is the provision of pelcia and chaitra, either pretending to be raped or doing it to the client.

There is a great deal of internal politics in the brothel, especially after Cal is let in on the house secret. There is a harr kept locked in a room, a slave who is used by the clients who prefer the real thing. His name is Pantherine, a beautiful young harr who despises all of the other inhabitants and is considered extremely dangerous.

Pantherine speaks to Cal's mind, using their wraeththu power, which the rest of them have forgotten, and convinces Cal to help him escape. Cal decides to enlist the help of an unusual client. Kruin doesn't come for the usual service, he only wishes to take the female part in aruna, which he is banned from by his tribe's custom. Cal seduces one of the guards, and drugs them with a gift of wine.

They escape and begin to flee toward Pantherine's home, but are caught by the guards and the owner of the brothel. Cal is raped and he and Kruin are about to be killed when the Gelaming appear, rescuing them. Cal is bitter and accuses them of following him. They finally arrive at Pantherine's home, where his family offer them a place to stay until spring.

Throughout the novel, flashes of Cal's past that had remained hazy in the previous novels are explained, and he must learn to deal with them and the consequences. He believes that Theide and Pell have been manipulating him to come to Immanion and be a secret consort to Pell, and he resists.

To Cal's surprised, Pantherine seduces him, overcoming his experiences as a slave. They decide to continue on Cal's journey together. He meets with a number of people who seem to know him, and who help him raise his level of mystic training, cleansing him of the past.

The final stage of their journey, before reaching Immanion, is at Roselane, where they find a strange enclave. The Kammagrian are the female equivalent of wraeththu, as wraeththu are incepted from males, so Kammagria are incepted from females, although there are far fewer. It is them, not Theide, who have been urging Cal along the way. They believe that it is time for Theide to move past this existence and leave the way open for Pell, Cal and Caeru, Pell's consort, to be together.

When Cal reaches Immanion, he confronts Theide, who has tried to remove love from the wraeththu, and who is the creator of the race. Theide must kill Cal, as he once killed Pellaz, and he accepts that it is time. When he dies, Immanion suffers an earthquake, changing forever the city. It is no longer beautiful and perfect, but balanced and right.

Cal and Pell find each other at last, and although both of them have changed, their love has not. Caeru, despite initial misgivings and years of scorn from Pell, accepts Cal in the end, and they rule the wraeththu together.