The year is 1317. Young English squire Benedict Russell joins the garrison of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the last English-held town in Scotland after the spectacular Scottish victory at Bannockburn three years earlier. Serious and self-doubting, Ben can't wait for his time there to come to an end. But as the Scots draw ever closer and the English king does nothing to stop them, he finds himself in a race against time to solve the brutal murder of a young girl and find the traitor lurking within Berwick's walls.