Many years have passed since Queen Thirrin and her allies defended the Icemark against a brutal invasion. But darkness lurks within the House of Lindenshield. Medea, the couple's cold-hearted, fifteen-year-old daughter, who's just coming into her magical powers, may be the downfall of the kingdom. It's up to her brother, Charlemagne, crippled by polio as a child, to return from exile and rescue the land he loves.