"...A boy king--Audric, grandson of the legendary Kraljica Marguerite ca'Ludovici--rules Nessantico under the tutelage of Sergei ca'Rudka, but the boy is ill and there are those who are waiting impatiently for the Sun Throne to become vacant again. The continent-spanning empire of the Holdings has broken in half, with Firenzcia and neighboring countries to the east crreating a rival alliance. The Concénzia Faith has also been sundered, with Archigos Ana ca'Seranta ruling in Nessantico while another in Brezno claims the same title...Nessantico must face a threat unlike any other in its long, illustrious history: a threat that will take it to the knife edge of destruction."--dust cover flap.