And so, the battle for the soul of Safehold has begun. The Kingdom of Cheris and the Kingdom of Chisholm have united to fight against the tyranny of the corrupt Church. The young Queen Charlienne of Chisholm married King Caileb of Charisia, forming a single dynasty and a single empire dedicated to the defense of human freedom. Crowned Empress of the new empire, Charlienne found in the arms of Cayleb a love that she could not even imagine in a “dynastic marriage.” In Cayleb's struggle against the ruthless "Group of Four" that rules the Mother Church, she has found a goal to which she can devote all of herself, her courage and her intelligence. This is the fight she was born for. However, there are things Charlienne doesn't know about yet. Secrets that Kayleb has no right to reveal even to her. For example, about the true history of humanity on Safehold, or about the existence of a thousand-year-old sophisticated web of lies, delusions and made-up “religion” that has entangled humanity, or about the existence of the Gbaba aliens, thirsting for the genocide of all sentient beings, who are waiting for the moment to completely destroy humanity, it is worth just to get their attention. Nor can he tell the secret of a young woman, Nimue Alban, who died nine centuries ago, whose heart, mind and memory live in the android body of a warrior monk known to Charlien as Merlin. And so Empress Charlien faces the greatest challenge of her life. , unaware of the consequences she will have to face. Or that the secrets that the man who loves her cannot share with her threaten everything they have achieved together... and her own life.