"A master story-teller" - The US Review of Books It’s 1517 and Scotland has finally made peace with England. But with a five-year-old king, an absent governor and the country bitterly divided, the real battle is just beginning. As traitors and trouble-makers circle the throne, French diplomat Antoine de Lissieu is sent to guard a notorious bandit, in the wild frontier region of the Marches. It seems like a straightforward task, which will finally allow him to go home. But Antoine soon finds himself fighting against poisonous forces who will stop at nothing to win power. As the bodies pile up, and Antoine’s own head is put on the block, can he defeat the conspirators or will he be destroyed by their murderous ambition?