After years locked in a tower, Prince Sarmin has come into his own. He has been crowned emperor; he has wed Mesema of the horse tribes; the Pattern-Master is dead. Everything should be happy-ever-after. But war has begun, Sarmin has no royal assassin, and both his wife and mother have given birth to sons, throwing the succession into question. The last thing anyone needs is for Kavic, the Yrkman peace envoy, to be murdered in his bed. There are numerous possible killers, and with no convincing explanation for Kavic's death, there is no hope for peace. It's up to Grada, Sarmin's trusted investigator, to solve the mystery - no matter how close to the throne the answer may lie.