A coup against the king of Lirionne forces his last remaining legitimate son, Prince Tepres, to flee to Kalches, nearly on the eve of war breaking out between the two countries. Tepres may have won the friendship of Kalchesene prince and mage Taudde Omientes ken Lariodde, but in the face of his cousins' hostility and his grandfather's mistrust, not even Taudde may be able to protect the heir of the infamous Dragon of Lirionne from the perils of the...