Still reeling from the traumatic events of Pawn in Frankincense, Lymond decides to flee from them, moving to Muscovy, where he becomes adviser and general to the half-mad tsar. He swiftly finds himself battling a Cossack prince and Crimean Tartars. Yet even as Lymond tries to navigate the machinations of a dangerous and unfamiliar royal court, unseen forces conspire to enlist this infinitly useful man in their own schemes. Lymond's past is catching...