North and her bear live on a circus boat, floating between the scattered archipelagoes that are all that remains of the land. To survive, the circus's acrobats, fire-swallowers and pony-tricksters must perform for the few fortunate islanders in return for food and supplies. Callanish tends the watery graves along the equator as penance for a long-ago mistake. She craves forgiveness but instead must spend her days alone with the dying birds that mark people's mourning for the dead. A storm brings a change in both of their lives that they may not have been looking for, but that may bring them the peace and happiness they have silently yearned for. Will they have the courage to embrace the possibilities of a world where the old boundaries are dissolving?.