This is a prequell to the Changespell Saga, Dun Lady's Jess. King Benlan has been mudered, and his faithful friend and protector Ehrenof the King's Guard vows to find the killer. But the dead king's wizard has great influence on the new king, still an impressionable boy, and so Ehren is sent away to find Benlan's brother, to ensure that he is not gong to contest the new king for the throne. Ehren is angry, he suspects that the evil wizard had something to do with Benlan's death, and that he is being sent away so that he cannot prove it. But, while on his journey, Ehren falls in with a young man and his sister who are not who they appear to be, and Ehren realizes that he may not be so far off the track of the King's killer after all.. A gripping books of kings and wizards in a realm where magic is rigidley regulated, and women are treated as equals in all things, this book is a must read for everyone who likes to read a well- told story.