Damon Maxwell, the man who doesn't age, has accepted work as Chief of Security for the Holy Roman Empire. He lives in Croatia rather than Vienna, to stay closer to his biggest problem, Serbia. Now over eighty, he still looks to be in his twenties. He likes his life but is sure the Habsburgs are bungling the rule of an empire. He's already thinking of a change in employment Before he can decide on that change, he is made aware of a plot by a phantom group in Belgrade, a plot to assassinate a member of the Royal Family, the Archduchess Gisela. He can't let that happen on his watch. He has a squad of agents in Belgrade, and he forms a surprising alliance with an Egyptian Turk, a woman who shares his goal of preventing a war. They are pitted against the Young Black Slavs, and they make their own little war as they try to eliminate the bad guys. As usual, romance is fertilized by blood. Damon and the Turkish beauty are abetted by the British Counsel General in Belgrade, who owes Damon a couple of favors. The conflict culminates during a parade for the Archduchess, and the protagonists find they have more enemies than they thought. Does the hero escape unscathed? Why should he have to? And what does Einstein have to do with it?