Mama turned in the saddle to look straight at Ivain, and her eyes were dark with fury.
"What kind of a man are you-" she began in that voice, the Shamer's voice, which cuts right to the soul.
"Shoot, damn it!" yelled someone from the shrubbery, and suddenly something long and dark was in the air, and there was a whirring sound and then a sickening thud. Mama collapsed across Falk's neck, and the long dark thing was stuck in her shoulder.
They had shot my mother.

When there are only four people in the world willing to look you in the face, losing one of them really hurts

One look into the Shamer's eyes and a person's darkest secrets are revealed. Dina has recently inherited this uncomfortable gift, and now even her brother, Davin, no longer dares to meet her gaze.

Yet in these dangerous times there are far worse things in store for the young Shamer. She is kidnapped by the corrupt Valdracu, cousin to the evil Dragon Lord who once tried to kill her mother. Then she's forced to use her gift as a weapon against innocent people. Dina must get free. Can her brother help her escape . . . before it's too late?