Bellogard and Chorny were locked in a perpetual war, conducted by magic - a war whose battles lasted centuries, a war conducted by the rules of chess. Each member of the Courts of the two countries-king, queen, prince, bishop,knight and squire-had their own prescribed magical moves: and when the king was killed the whole world disappeared. Pedino was the Bellogardian queen's squire, sent on a dangerous mission to uncover a Chornian spy. Little did he know that the woman he'd fallen in love with on his travels was a Chornian bishop's squire. In an inspired series of moves he managed to kill the other Chornian bishop-but his count'rys enemies were playing an unfamiliar game, and soon his entire world was threatened with extinction...