PREVIOUS TITLE: WOVEN WITH A SILENT MOTTO
The DeÁine are on the move, and that means trouble for the five Islands! For thirty years an unofficial and tense truce has existed between the Islanders and their would-be conquerors, the DeÁine, but that's changed.
In easternmost Rheged, Ruari MacBeth thinks all he has to worry about is the bad news he's bringing back home from abroad – he couldn't be more wrong. Before he knows it he finds himself a hunted man, his world in turmoil and his friends in danger.
On the southern Island of Prydein what should have been a simple diplomatic visit for young Queen Alaiz, swiftly turns into a nightmare as she and her companion are kidnapped. Who betrayed them and why?
On northern Celidon, former Knight Maelbrigt finds himself battling with bands of killers he thought he'd never need to face again, as he desperately tries to save the life of Taise, the woman he loves.
For Cwen and her new friend, Swein, in Brychan the bigger danger seems to come from the mad and dangerous King Edward for whom murder is a sport and power a drug. Yet they are only ordinary folk – do the Knights know something different?
For all of them, rumours abound and the DeÁine are never far from any of their minds. Are the DeÁine war-mages already in the Islands? Time is running short if the Islanders are to prevent the DeÁine's plans from becoming reality. Only together will they be in with a fighting chance of winning and keeping their freedom.