Well, it doesn't seem so. Except for the fact that every book ends. With it comes heartbreak, because you don't want such a great book to do anything even close to ending.
Aly is now the (sort of) spymaster in the Balitang household as they return to Court. She spreads rumors and broadens her spy-network to help the raka-conspiracy. She's witty and fun, but a little more human in this book.
A four year-old sits on the throne, guided by regents every bit as rotten as the last King. The luarin (white-skinned rulers of the Copper isles, they opress the raka) are beginning to see the regents' flaws too, with a little help and prodding.
The path is being cleared for the Balitang ladies, who are to be the future Queens of the isles, but will the raka-conspiracy have it in them to get them there? And also: Will they be able to avoid the bloodbath that might follow?
Apart from the ending, the only letdown was the fact that there was so little (dare I say nothing?) about my very favourite Tortall heroine. But that's no reason not to buy the book.
It's fast-paced, and best of all, it makes sense! People do stuff for a reason.