The world of “sword and magic”. A world of high Houses fighting among themselves for so long that no one remembers the reasons for these wars. A world in which the sudden murder of an exiled half-mad prince, committed, according to the official version, by a young a maiden of noble blood is a spark that can ignite a fire of chaos and civil strife between Houses equally vying for the right to inherit the crown of a dying monarch. This can only be prevented by finding the true killer of the prince. And then Lord Ingri kin Wolfcliffe goes to the castle from the capital on a secret mission …