The United States frontier, 1804: On the roughly settled borders of the western land, two young lovers, Edmond and Marie, are torn apart by societal constraints and the mysterious forces of frightening legend that haunt the young country, including rumors of a dark and evil king ruling the forests. Edmond and Marie, separated by distance and time, grow over the intervening years until they are finally reunited by a fateful event that forces the untested Edmond to descend into the black depths of the king's lair, with the help of a flim-flam artist and a runaway slave boy, to rescue his childhood friend and beloved Marie from the clutches of a malevolence they can't begin to fathom in a tale described as "a worthwhile and engaging read" (Goodreads).