Alvin journeyman / Alvin Smith returns to his family as a journeyman smith. The Unmaker uses human deception to try and destroy Alvin, who is now on trial for his life -- Heartfire / While Alvin visits the nearly holy province of New England to find out just how cities work, his wife Margaret, traveling under the name Peggy, journeys to the kingdom of Camelot, which was formerly known as Charleston, South Carolina. There she hopes to persuade the exiled King Arthur to help her abolish the practice of slavery.