Book 1 of the Quinn Hawk series. Not much had gone right in the life of Quinn Hawk, the orphaned son of the former Duke of Eastcastle. Numbers were a mystery, reading seemed impossible, and weapons training was merely an excuse for the other boys to cover him with bruises. Tired of failing, Quinn spent his days trying to stay unnoticed and unimportant, until one chance encounter. On the way to the Spring Festival, Quinn meets the Bishop of Canton, a dying man with a secret that changes Quinn's life forever. Determined to find the truth behind the death of his parents, Quinn is thrown into a world more dangerous than he ever imagined. Unanswered questions swirl around him, not the least of which is who can he really trust?