A novel by Russian writer and historian Sergei Karpuschenko in the genre of alternative history. In 1823, the Decembrists Muravyov-Apostol and Bestuzhev-Ryumin with their comrades-in-arms were going to capture Emperor Alexander I, who had come to the review, and then march with the rebellious army to St. Petersburg. The conspiracy did not take place, but the author decided to imagine what would have happened if the conspirator Norov, who was supposed to capture the king while on guard, had released him.