The War of the Roses places Edward IV on the English throne. The court of Lorenzo de' Medici the Magnificent shines. In Milan, Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza is plotting. But all this is an alternative world without the dominance of Christianity and Islam, in which medieval Europe is threatened by the Byzantine Empire. Sforza, the vampire duke, gathers his forces for a long-planned attack on Florence, but Byzantium is not asleep either. An exiled heir to the throne turned mercenary, a young doctor forced to flee Florence, and a Welsh wizard have no common goals at first glance, but together they weave a conspiracy against the power of Byzantium, seeking to transfer the English throne to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and make him king Richard III.