Five generations under the eagle. Butchers under the skin. When the King of Histria invites Claudia to visit, she assumes the contract he wants her to sign is for wine. How wrong can she be? Virtually a prisoner in a land where brutality is ingrained, she is deeply suspicious of the recent run of bad luck that has befallen the King's family. And where is he? If the King was so desperate to meet, why will no one take her to the Palace? And why, when she witnesses a murder, does no one believe her..?