Household knights and spy Sir James de Grispere has never faced such overwhelming odds. The turbulent reign of Henry IV has finally come to an end, yet his son inherits a kingdom riven with debt and dissension. The Scots threaten to breach the treaty of peace, raising a banner under the imposter Richard II to unite with English rebels. Paris is torn apart by a terror that could unite France against the English king; and in England, a deadly heretical sect threatens to undermine the fabric of all society linking these forces to assassinate the new King Henry V. Sir James must face a charge of treason and his own mortality to save his family and the king.