A ZAZAC (zenith and zero altitude craft) ferrying supplies from a star ship to a new mine on the dead planet, Missal 1, is attacked by terrorists and crippled, to crash in flames into one of the oceans of Missal 2, another planet of the same system. The pilot of the craft, Jasena Ari, is forced to swim towards land; long before she reaches it she is saved from drowning by the crew of a slave ship. Enslaved herself, she is subsequently given as a gift to one of the petty rulers of Bellengaria, the continent she had seen from the zazac during its final plunge to the sea. She escapes, to begin an odyssey. Jasenari meets a youth who proves to be a deposed king and proceeds to fall in love. During the course of her odyssey she is accused of being a witch, tried and found guilty. Condemned to be burned alive, will she escape to follow her heart?