Humanity has entered space as the vulnerable Iron Tribe, threatened by stronger peoples. Princess Dianeira searches for a legendary saviour and reaches a desolate planet. The boy she finds there, Age, does not immediately share the assumptions or priorities of those seeking his help.
The promise of salvation creates expectations before a relationship has been established. Dianeira’s wish to secure humanity’s future meets someone whose extraordinary strength cannot be separated from his own attachments. Requests and obligations become part of the effort to turn a discovery into cooperation.
Age’s tears place a personal response beside the luminous image of the princess seeking him. An account of a saviour can make someone sound like a resource waiting to be found. The encounter has to allow for a living person whose feelings are not created by other people’s need for him.
