At last after long years of English imprisonment, Scotland's King James I negotiates the terms of his release and of his marriage to his beloved Joan Beaufort. But he returns to a Scotland in chaos. Surrounded by plots, intrigues, and rebellions, James struggles to restore order and survive attempts by his family to overthrow him. Above all, James fears that his life and his own dream — of a Scotland at peace with a strong parliament — might be lost to his family's greed for power.