Jack hires a fisherman's son to take him to the Isle of Cadence in exchange for two enchanted dirks.

After the frightened fisherman turns back, Jack jumps overboard and swims to the shore of Cadence.

Torin intercepts Jack at the Tamerlaine border and reveals two young girls from the clan have gone missing.

Adaira confesses she forged her father's summons and asks Jack to play music to summon the spirits about the missing girls.

Jack visits his mother Mirin and discovers he has a younger sister, Frae, whom he never knew existed.

Jack hears something trying to open Frae's window shutters at night and watches a shadow slip away from the croft.

Adaira and Jack summon the water spirits at Kelpie Rock; Lady Ream warns them about blood in the water.

Maisie is abducted from the yard; Sidra stabs the kidnapper and discovers his red blood proves the culprit is human, not a spirit.

Adaira proposes a handfast marriage to Jack so they can visit the Breccans together as husband and wife.

Jack and Adaira summon the earth spirits at Earie Rock, who confirm the girls are alive but refuse to name their captor.

Jack and Adaira are married in a handfast ceremony in the thistle patch, with Torin officiating.

Jack and Adaira summon the wind spirits; Bane confirms the Breccans took the girls, then attacks Jack and warps his harp.

Adaira and Jack return from the mountain to learn that Laird Alastair has died.

Moray attempts to kidnap Frae; Jack plays his warped harp and magically forces Moray to bring her back.

Adaira asks Jack to stay in the east, and Jack watches her ride west across the clan line without him.

Jack Tamerlaine is summoned back to the Isle of Cadence after ten years on the mainland and is enlisted by Adaira to use his music to question the spirits about the missing Tamerlaine girls. Each spirit summoning reveals only fragments of the truth while taking a devastating toll on Jack's body. As the investigation deepens, Jack and Adaira grow closer, eventually marrying so Adaira can negotiate safely with the Breccans. The wind spirit Bane finally confirms the Breccans are behind the abductions before attacking Jack and destroying his harp. The kidnapper Moray is captured after attempting to take Frae, and the truth of Adaira's Breccan identity upends her place in the clan. She ultimately secures the girls' release by agreeing to cross into the west, leaving Jack behind on Cadence.

The central quest to find the missing girls and solve Cadence's mystery.

Jack tells the fisherman's son the tale of how Joan Tamerlaine and Fingal Breccan killed each other and cursed the isle.

A water spirit nearly pulls Jack beneath the ocean as he swims to reach Cadence's shore.

Torin brings Jack home to his croft and introduces him to his wife Sidra and young daughter Maisie.

Jack meets Laird Alastair at the castle and is shocked by his sickly, weakened appearance.

Jack notices a sealed letter from the Breccans on a table in Adaira's private study.

While searching for the missing girls, Torin discovers a strange crimson flower he has never seen before.

Torin visits his estranged father Graeme, who gives him half a book of spirit stories once belonging to Joan Tamerlaine.

Sidra reads Maisie the story of Oreanna, a spirit whose crimson flowers let mortals learn her secrets when eaten.

After the earth spirit summoning, Jack collapses from magical exhaustion, finally revealing the true cost of his playing to Adaira.

Jack and Adaira meet Moray Breccan at the clan line to exchange goods; Moray denies any knowledge of the Oreanna flower.

Breccans raid the Elliot farm and set it ablaze; Torin is struck by an enchanted dirk that steals his voice.

Eliza Elliot, one of the missing girls, reappears alive near Mirin's croft in the aftermath of the raid.

Innes Breccan meets Adaira and confirms she knows of the Oreanna flower, proving Moray lied about his ignorance.

Mirin gives Jack an enchanted dirk, revealing it was a gift from his father, meant for Jack when he came of age.

Adaira surrenders her signet ring to Torin and appoints him laird after the townspeople turn against her over her true identity.

While Jack and Adaira work to summon the spirits, the people around them gather crucial pieces of the puzzle. Torin discovers the crimson Oreanna flower and receives his father's half-book of spirit stories, while Sidra learns from the tale of Oreanna exactly what those flowers can do. The first trade meeting with Moray Breccan raises more questions than it answers when he denies knowledge of the flower, a lie that Innes Breccan later exposes. A Breccan raid on the Elliot farm escalates the violence and silences Torin, but also results in the return of one missing girl. Laird Alastair's visible decline foreshadows his death, and a truth-enchanted dirk from Jack's unknown father points toward discoveries yet to come. The growing crisis forces Adaira into a series of impossible decisions, ultimately stripping her of the lairdship she was raised to inherit.

The clues, relationships, and confrontations that shape the investigation.

Adaira apologizes for her harsh parting words and reveals her mother always intended Jack to return as Bard of the East.

Torin deduces the shadow at Frae's window was not a Breccan, as his blood-bond to the border would have detected any crossing.

Donella's ghost appears to Sidra in a dream and warns her that someone is coming to take Maisie.

Laird Alastair privately tells Jack he already knew about the toll magic takes on him and urges Jack to compose his own ballads.

Sidra eats a petal from the Oreanna flower and briefly gains sight of both the mortal world and the spirit world at once.

Jack and Adaira cut themselves with the truth-enchanted dirk and share long-hidden fears, grief, and feelings for each other.

Sidra returns to her childhood home in the Vale of Stonehaven and buries her grief over Maisie into the earth to restore her faith.

Sidra burns her hands harvesting fire spurge to make a salve that heals Torin's festering wound and restores his stolen voice.

Torin's voice returns and he confesses his love to Sidra, pledging to turn away from the violence that has haunted him.

Jack confronts Mirin, who reveals his father is a Breccan keeper who crossed the border in secret by bleeding into the river.

Moray, cut with the truth dirk, confesses he kidnapped the girls to lure Adaira home, revealing she is his Breccan twin sister given away as an infant.

Jack confesses his own Breccan heritage to Adaira, and they consummate their marriage.

Breccans take Torin and Niall hostage; Innes arrives and brokers a deal where Adaira goes west in exchange for the girls' release.

The missing girls are returned to their families, and Maisie reunites with Sidra, calling her mummy for the first time.

Innes reveals music is forbidden in the west, prompting Adaira to beg Jack to remain behind and continue as Bard of the East.

Beneath the main plot lies a web of personal revelations that transform each character's understanding of themselves and each other. Sidra's faith is shattered when Maisie is taken, but her love for Torin drives her to burn her own hands harvesting fire spurge, healing him and restoring their bond. Jack and Adaira's session with the truth-enchanted dirk strips away their defenses and draws them genuinely close for the first time. The most earth-shattering revelation comes when Moray is forced to confess that Adaira is his Breccan twin sister, given away as a sickly infant and unknowingly passed to the Tamerlaines. Jack then confesses his own Breccan heritage, linking their lives in an entirely unexpected way. The weight of these truths ultimately determines the fate of every character, with Adaira choosing to cross into the west in hopes of uniting the isle.