Thirteen-year-old orphan, Meryt-Re, lives with her uncle's family in the ancient Egyptian village of Set Maat, the home of the pharaohs' tomb-builders.

Under pressure to marry Ramose, a dull, plodding stonecutter, she resists, and begs for guidance from the gods, but she's unable to decipher the message behind her vivid dreams.

When her cousin falls gravely ill, her uncle accuses her of turning the gods against him and banishes her from the house.

Meanwhile, Meryt discovers other strange and suspicious activities going on in the village: Why is Userkaf, a boisterous draughtsman, trying to cause trouble by making accusations against one of the foremen? And why is his servant girl stealing precious and holy gold amulets from the embalmers?

Meryt's worried too, that her aunt Tia seems to think that her father has not gone peacefully to the Next World, and when she discovers Tia is not the only other person to have been making offerings to him in his tomb, she is even more puzzled.

It is not until she meets Teti, the village wise woman, that Meryt can begin to unravel the meaning of her dreams and in so doing, solve the mysteries surrounding her.