Does Rox realise the danger? Or does she even know what she is looking for? Arafael is settling down to life as the Countess of Sombersea; she has found her feet in a Duchy fired by the passion and zeal of her tall cousin. It is supposed to be a quiet, formal visit to the Duchess in her crater peak manor; but nothing is ever really quiet and formal when Rox Antasha takes an interest. There is news from the lost province of High Fells; the Shadow Warrior has taken over the old Baronial residence of Winterstorm Castle. He kills anybody who enters the derelict building, his shadowy style of fighting bringing madness before the final blow can fall. Taken together these facts are enough to bring Rox's attention abruptly onto the contested province; the fifth of the Duchy if she manages to get there first with her men. But over the bay, watching her every move, is the rogue count Pantrol Morgan. He has a definite interest in getting a foothold in High Fells, whatever Meredor, the Alderman of Baronhaem, has to say about the matter. Or maybe he already has a foothold? After all, nobody knows who the Shadow Warrior is, or what his nefarious agenda might be. "