A teenage orphan girl Salome lives within a sect lead by charismatic and ruthless Maria Åkerblom. During a pivotal summer, Salome is faced with standing up against Maria, the woman who had saved her.

Centuries in the future, world's freshwater supplies are running out. Wars are waged over water, and China rules over Europe, including the Scandinavian Union. Far in the north, young woman, Noria, is learning to become a Tea Master, like her father. Tea Masters alone know the location of hidden water sources, including the natural spring that Noria’s father tends, which once provided water for her whole village. After her father dies, the military moves in to watch over the village -- and Noria. Refusing to give in her freshwater spring, Noria digs in deeper into her family’s secret. Within the Tea Masters’ books, she finds information that the government’s power is based on lies, that there still might be fresh water left for everyone. She risks her own life and sets out on a dangerous journey to find out if this is true.