Publisher's Synopsis
A young exiled royal princess named Izadare falls in love with Duncan when he visits her aunt's palace selling amulets made of rare Isperagold. To escape an arranged marriage, Izadare runs away to be with Duncan, who lives part of the year underground collecting nuggets of Isperagold along the tunnels of the subterranean Ispera River. Duncan takes Izadare to Ballawais, his mother's oasis village in the desert, where they are married. However, the young couple are quickly overtaken by a series of tragic events and are separated. Izadare, alone, gives birth to twins, a girl and a boy, but loses her young son when he is taken away from her by pirates. The son, Otawais, grows up working as a slave on a farm in Morgada, and later serving as a cabin boy on a pirate galley. He eventually manages to escape captivity and is taken in and cared for by tin miners. Meanwhile, Izadare and her daughter, Simbellisa, have moved to the mysterious floating city island of Yse, the birthplace of Izadare's mother, Queen Oinda, where they learn to develop unusual supernatural gifts and magic powers. After several years have passed, Izadare and her two children are reunited and together they set off in search of Duncan who has embarked on a quest to find the mythical Garden of the Isperades where the Tree of Ispera grows on an island in a lake. The tree's golden fruit grants wishes to those who taste it.
