 In her, he sensed a strong possibility of "connaturality", a deep personality congruity that is essential for telepaths to be married.As he has strong convictions against marrying outside his faith, and being barred from proselytizing, much of the book revolves around Caldwell trying to bridge the gap to Firebird by demonstrating the goodness of his spirit to her, offering life and hope to one who believed herself as good as dead.Following Netaia's failure on Veroh, Firebird's sister Carradee ascends the throne after their mother commits suicide, a tradition within the royal family.