As the treachery of his official Champion and chief advisor becomes increasingly apparent, King Douglas continues to play the broken man, while surreptitiously preparing some form of retaliation. Finn Durandal is unexpectedly called away to Haden, as the artificial intelligences of Shub have uncovered deception on the part of the scientists studying the Madness Maze. And Lewis Deathstalker and his motley band of rebels travel to the bizarre planet Lachrymae Christi for a stunning encounter with one of the Maze survivors from Owen Deathstalker's time.