Corvo and Ardn have traveled from their home on the planet Biryan back to Corvo's homeworld of Tiberia to take part in Corvo's sister's wedding. The happy occasion is complicated by the fact that Ardn is essentially a prisoner of war, a war that, though over, he is still affected by. Corvo, likewise, is a hostage to the political situation that made Ardn a slave. Though they have overcome many of the problems they faced initially, and are happy together, neither of them is happy with the legal realities that they are powerless to change. The trip to Tiberia, intended to be happy, instead becomes laden with meaning that he had not expected.
