The adventures of the employees of the Institute of Experimental History continue! The “godfather” of Valdar Kamdil - George Barens, in Constantinople during the time of Caesar John II Komnenos, better known as the humble brother George Varnatz, a man of very checkered fate and, at the same time, a trusted spy, enters the stage Basileus, specializing in the mysterious and dangerous Russians. His task is to gain the trust of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Monomakh and find out why this valiant husband did not disband his army to their homes, but, on the contrary, greatly increased it at the expense of hired detachments of Varangians and steppes. Is the prince, according to the custom of his illustrious ancestor Oleg, going to Constantinople? And if not, then who does he want to go to? And what are these vague rumors about the oath that Vladimir once gave to his beloved wife, the daughter of the king who died in the Battle of Hastings Harold's Saxons?..