Takeo was Lord Otori's adopted son and bound by blood to the Tribe, a secret network of trained assassins. Kaede was Lord Otori's betrothed - and Takeo's true love. Now, in the wake of the lord's death, they are torn apart. Abducted by his teachers Kenji, Takeo is condemned to work as an assassin, an enforced occupation that his father sacrificed his own life to escape.
However he still dreams of claiming the name of the Otori. At the same time, Kaede, heir to the Maruyama, returns home to a shattered family and an uncertain future.