Three years have passed since Achmed, the assassin-king, Grunthor, the lethal Sargeant-Major, and Rhapsody, the Lady Cymrian, helped bring peace and prosperity to the land of Roland. But when the mysterious deaths of the Dowager Empress of Sorbold and her son leave empty the line of succession, the dark clouds of war threaten the fragile Cymrian Alliance. And Rhapsody must face an old nemesis—one presumed dead for centuries—who rises up to threaten all she holds dear.