Book I of The Chronicles of the Deryni. The Deryni are a race of sorcerers possessed of extra human powers. But for centuries to be a Deryni meant to be an outcast in the land of Gwynedd, until the emergence of Charissa, a full-blooded Deryni who murders King Brion - leaving his young son, Kelson Haldane to assume the kingship at a time where the very throne is being challenged. Rebellion is rife and the boy-king may not last unless he uses all the power at his disposal - magic included - to survive and thereby preserve the Eleven Kingdoms. Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet.