Mexico, 1517. Yaotl, the Aztec Chief Minister's slave, is looking for his son. Others are searching too. Lord Feathered-in-Black, Yaotl's all-powerful master, wants vengeance on the boy for duping him, and Yaotl is desperate to get to his son first. But it's soon apparent that other quests are caught up with Yaotl's. Kindly, the father of his former lover, has lost some valuable property which he wants Yaotl to help him recover. A master feather worker is searching for his missing daughter. Yaotl manages to evade his master's bloodthirsty warriors, only to stumble upon a dismembered, unrecognisable corpse. Finding out who the dead man was and how he died will provide the key to Yaotl's search for his son, and to Kindly's and the feather worker's searches too. For everything is linked to an affair of greed, jealousy and lust among the ancient, secretive society of the feather workers, the Aztec's foremost craftsmen. As he gets closer to solving the mystery, Yaotl will need his wits about him simply to stay alive - for Lord Feathered-in-Black and his henchmen are never far away.