Jerin Fox is no longer young, but he still has enough worries. And with his own sons, and with the offspring of the lord of the sweet grapes, Mavrix, and with the adopted cubs of underground monsters. Another war is on the horizon with Arajis the Archer, who has long been eager to try on the crown of the North. And then, absolutely unexpectedly and completely inappropriately, the Elabon Empire remembers the existence of the northern provinces. The emperor sends an army with an offer to repent and pay tribute for the past twenty years, during which everyone conveniently forgot about the existence of their southern neighbor. And rival kings unite against a common enemy.