Diomedes Melas has orchestrated the theft of an imperial army that is to march to Valiri's war and oppose the Horde of the Bloody Hand. His own regiment, the Warguard, is a part of this army. He leaves the castle and everything else behind, the life he had made for himself, his woman and any future they might have had together, his brother and half of the Snow Lions. He leaves knowing that he cannot return even should he survive the desperate battles that lie ahead.
However, Diomedes is but a newcomer to the board of the game of kings. His opponents have vastly greater experience and resources and care not for Valiri's war or for the danger to their own lands. They have neither the bravery nor the will to honour their commitments and in so doing, protect their own people. Diomedes faces an uphill battle and for him the war has begun long before he reaches the battlefield. Even so, should he lose the political battle, Diomedes will not turn back. The Warguard will march and the Black Captain will make death itself a weapon to drive into the heart of the Bloody Hand.