This second book of Tandemstar takes us to Kingdoms, where the five gods of the Pantheon blessed a family line as living avatars to rule and technology is restricted. Enter Battine Alconnot, the -not denoting that she did not inherit the blessing of the god Ho, whose childhood sweetheart inherited the throne, but because Battine is Unblessed had to marry her sister instead. She usually avoids the court and her family, but promised her sister to attend this festival. The King tries to talk to Battine alone, saying that she is owed an apology, but before he can explain they are interrupted by the queen and later that night he is found dead. The murderer has unfortunately framed Battine, so with the help of an outsider and a servant ,she sneaks around the castle while looking for the truth. The shocking truth makes no sense to Battine but sends her to an ancient temple seeking the deepest secret of the Blessed.

Battine's story doesn't link up with that of the main character from the first book, Makk, until near the end. The Kingdoms are cultures apart from Makk's world, although both characters are shunned, Makk as a cholem (unlucky) and Battine as an Unblessed. Unlike Makk, Battine can't hide her status, since the Blessed look nearly identical depending on which god they are descended from. Overall, Battine isn't unhappy to be Unblessed because her parents ensured she was treated equally, and she values her individuality. On the other hand, because they all look the same, those like her sister must rely on clothes and cosmetics to differentiate themselves. Her only two regrets are that she couldn't marry the man she loved and that the Unblessed don't have children. It's obvious from what little the king says before they are interrupted that he has discovered something about her being Unblessed and it's a secret that someone is willing to kill to keep silent. Along the way she also discovers that the kings are making good use of the technology they ban their subjects from using.

Battine is almost Makk's opposite in personality and the feudal nature of her society is so different from the Makk's modern city life that it's hard to believe this is a sequel until the end. The general idea of the secret the king held was fairly obvious but that didn't detract from the mystery of who killed him and chose to frame Battine. This story had a little more humor than the first which made it a bit more engaging for me.