The Gods of Darkness order black wizards to push the kingdom of Sotoya into the abyss of civil war. The daughter of one of the four barons of the kingdom, who had previously found refuge from the intrigues of political opponents in the free maidens of the war, goes out, breaking all imaginable traditions, to marry Basel Bahnakson, one of the hailstones, long-time enemies of the hundredth . The king supports her father's plans to expand trade by building a waterway through the kingdom's lands and its neighbors, which does not suit traditionalists who resist changes. The war maidens thwart the attempt of the traitor-aristocrat on the life of the king, and the combined armed forces of the city and the hundreds defeat the Wurdals supported by magic and open the way for trade along the waterway.