A drunken horse race ends with a woman's head being thrown into the sea. Yet the killer isn't caught or even hunted. He rides home and hangs up his bloody sword for his servants to clean. The murder is yet another sign that the beautiful Island of Lorn is sliding into chaos.
Only two cousins have a chance of saving Lorn from the shy and supremely-talented Sir Arlon of Starfall, and the troubled young knight of Rook Tower, Sir Benrick the Black. But they are just two swords on an island without virtue. And one of them happens to have a beast living inside his chest.