Five years after King Harald returns to the throne, everything is not well in his kingdom. Marriette's efforts to bring reform to the relationship between noble and commoner is at an impass. Not everyone is willing to wait. Civil war looms as a possibilty.
In the Empire, Rodrigo is on the run with a huge price on his head and posters with his face all over the place. A woman who told him if he left with no word she'd hunt him down has found him. His quiet life as a spy is over, but he has no idea what awaits him.