Arthur Pendragon is dead! Or so the cry goes up from the battlefields of France. His widow, Gwenhwyfar, left at Caer Cadan with their small daughter, faces overthrow by the powerful council headed by Arthur's uncle, and a power struggle with his ex-wife Winifred. But, unknown to her, Arthur has survived and is nursed back to health in France. And events there and in Germany mean that a far mightier battle on Arthur's territory is ahead....