Laibrook has never written a song of his own and playing the old favorites hasn't gone well either. Rather than singing about other people's adventures, he decides he needs to go on one himself. Ill-prepared and with ambitions far greater than his sense of self-preservation, he's ready to make his survival someone else's problem.

Einar has ridden the same route year after year with no plans to change. Even if it weren't his job as a messenger, this routine means he isn't responsible for anyone else's safety. Usually. Though he is reluctant to take on a wandering bard, he is also intrigued, and agrees to escort him to his destination.

The two stumble into the sort of song-worthy adventures Laibrook thought he needed and the sort Einar hoped to never experience again. As they face monster encounters and mishaps one after another, the line between their wants and needs grows, as does the risk that they may lose the best thing that's happened to either in a long time: each other.