Alanna rides out on her first tour as a knight errant. She has proved herself to be at least the equal of the men around her by her mixture of fighting ability and magical powers, but now there is a new opposition to overcome. When Alanna encounters a fierce tribe of desert dwellers, she finds herself in a single-combat fight for survival. And when she joins the tribe, and becomes the tribe's shaman, she discovered that she has made a deadly enemy. Alanna has to change other people's minds about a lot of things, including the position of women within the tribe. She has some dangerous moments, and some difficult tests to face, before she can triumph.And then there is the problem of her old friends - the King of the Thieves, and Prince Jonathan. Alanna is angry when Jonathan assumes that she is going to marry him, for she is not yet ready to give up her independence. Soon Alanna is setting off again, on yet another adventure.