Tetzcoco, the second city of the Aztec realm, is a bustling, cosmopolitan town; a city of poets, artists and legendary kings. It's also a place torn by unrest, as rival claimants fight over the throne, and spies and assassins stalk each other through the streets and marketplaces. It is here that Yaotl seeks refuge from his master, the Aztec Chief Minister. Lord Feathered-in-Black has decided to rid himself of his disobedient slave, and plans to have Yaotl sacrificed in the most gruesome manner possible - provided he can catch him first. Yaotl's former lover Lily is in Tetzcoco too, on a mission of her own. A mission that goes badly wrong, with the discovery of a bloodsoaked corpse - and Lily's arrest for murder. Yaotl faces a desperate race against time to find the evidence that will prove Lily's innocence - and save her from execution. The wily slave's search for the truth will lead him through palace corridors and darkened streets into a lethal trap, laid for him by his most pitiless and implacable enemy.