"I will teach you how to fight. But I will also teach you how to judge wisely about what needs to be done, what ought to be done, what matters and what does not. In due course you may find that having to choose between these will present you with problems that right now you cannot even conceive of."
Twelve years after watching helplessly as his family was murdered by King Giscard's henchmen, Antoine Hilbert returns to his home to balance the scales of justice. Those fifteen years have changed him into a man whose skill with weapons has earned him great respect at the courts of Iberia. With King Giscard's current weaponsmaster proving himself incapable even of besting the Princess Sophie, Antoine arrives at an opportune time to take part in a tournament to find a successor. His new position exposes him to court intrigues and places him close to the man who led the soldiers that murdered his parents-and to the Princess Sophie, who herself is the target of murderous schemes to prevent her from marrying a neighboring prince. Against his better judgment, Antoine finds himself compelled to protect her; thus deepening an emotional involvement that he could have done without. And when the time comes to take his revenge, the choice he has to make is one he had never expected.