This is the 2nd book in a trilogy about Lestor Stewartson, newly qualified Doctor and a Spirit Singer capable of temporarily removing a person's living essence to enable him and others to carry out medical procedures. He's been 'persuaded' by the General Council to tour the world with a travelling circus under the guise of Apprentice Juggler. The objective is to locate empowered minerals and jewels to be used for curing certain mental and physical conditions. Together with two travelling companions, the spies Janti Barnestin and Zhanar Plathor, Lestor crosses oceans teeming with life, through pirate-infested waters - travelling perilously close to the Drashen Empire, home to the tyrant Hardin. The ultimate quest, when revealed, proves to be far more sinister and will lead them into a potentially deadly confrontation.