In the sixteenth century, at the peak of Ottoman power, young boys were forcibly collected from all over the empire to serve in the army of the Sultan. One is Ozaner, taken from his family in Albania at the age of eight, never to return from Constantinople. When his father hears of Ozaner's death in unexplained circumstances, he travels to the distant capital to find out what happened. Court intrigue, the color and bustle of daily life, and a father's grief are the backdrop of this story of loss, mystery, and redemption.