Synopsis: Hekate's father is the most powerful mage in Ka'anan, so when he commands her to murder the queen of Byblos and marry the king, she must obey or flee. When she learns from the seer Dionysos, who she had bound herself to protect when he was an infant, that her father has summoned an otherworldly being to bespell her, she flees to the Caves of the Dead, where her father's magic is powerless. But the Caves are barred by a spell of terror and revulsion. Enraged by her agony, Hekate swears she will punish her father - and is twice bound. Before despair destroys her, Kabeiros rescues her by breaking the terrible spell, but Hekate cannot remain in the Caves. Unsatisfied, her bindings will kill her, and she must learn new magic far from her father's influence to loose them. Yet when she learns that Kabeiros cannot accompany her because he changes into a black dog if he leaves the Caves, Hekate swears to free him from his curse - and is thrice bound. (from the back cover of the Baen Books first edition)