It is December, 1803, and Richard Sharpe is now an officer in Sir Arthur Wellesley's army that is seeking to end the Mahratta War Unsure of his authority and uncomfortable in the mess, he is relegated to a tedious job in the baggage train There Sharpe discovers a treason, and finds himself alone and under threat, and falls back on his fighting ability, to regain his confidence and his treasure, the jewels of the Tippoo Sultan The search for revenge on the man who robbed him takes him to Gawilghur, the fortress in the sky