northern steppes to return Shen Li-Mei to Kitai. Li-Mei, who has known only a sheltered life of privilege, is forced to endure hardships and to learn to trust Meshag who is not only a barbarian, but who has intimidating links with the wolves that accompany them. Shortly after Shen Tai's arrival in Xinan the powerful An Li ('Roshan') rebels against Taizu's imperial authority. The arrogant Wen Zhou orders the execution of An Li's son, and then gives an order to the military commander Xu Bihai that results in a disastrous defeat for Kitai's forces, the forced abandonment of Xinan and the slaughter of thousands of its inhabitants, including many members of the imperial family. The upheavals set in motion by An Li's rebellion are reported to result in the deaths of up to forty million Kitans from war, disease and famine. Shen Tai manages to warn Spring Rain of the coming disaster in time to permit her to flee Xinan before it is taken by An Li, a bitter enemy of Wen Zhou, but Shen Tai and Spring Rain are not destined to meet again. News of Xu Bihai's defeat sparks a rebellion at an outpost where Emperor Taizu, his heir Shinzu, Wen Zhou the prime minister and Wen Jian the Precious Consort have stopped for the night. This revolt, by a mere handful of men, results in the violent deaths of Wen Zhou, Wen Jian, and Shen Liu, and the abdication of Taizu in favor of Shinzu. Shen Tai travels southwest to claim the Sardian horses, but elects to return to his home rather than to take the horses himself to the embattled Emperor Shinzu, after acknowledging his feelings for and commencing a relationship with Wei Song. Reaching his home, Shen Tai is reunited with his family, including Shen Li-Mei who has made her way home, and arrangements are made for the marriage of Shen Tai and Wei Song. Characters Shen Tai is the second son of Shen Gao, a famed general in the Kitai military, through whom a major part of the narrative is experienced. His past includes periods spent as a soldier, a Kanlin acolyte and a scholar in Xinan. In Xinan, he became very attached to a courtesan, Spring Rain. Following the death of his father two years before the opening of the novel, Shen Tai retired to Kuala Nor, site of a battleground twenty years