A good King leaves his Kingdom in mysterious circumstances. His Chief Counsellor, Gwythnae, is left to cope both with his own grief and also to set in motion the process of succession. The whereabouts of the one true heir, a new-born babe, is known only to him, and so it must remain. His task is a difficult and lonely one; to hide the truth from his fellow counsellors, to find a means of appointing one who can rule until the child is old enough to take his place as King, and to keep the darkness, which is moving over the face of the land, at bay. The words of the dread 'Prophesy of the Stone' echo in his soul, and he must keep its secrets hidden from all around him. But who is the mysterious Lady Ellarhond? How can she recite the dread prophesy? Is truth to be found in her mother's story of Ellarhond's infamous father? Placing the Queen's Torque about her neck can bring only death and destruction to the land. Gwythnae must stand alone as his years of labour and sacrifice, his whole world, crumbles about him. The King and all those associated with him are discredited. Dishonoured and disgraced, he must leave the Kingdom to its fate in the hands of the spiritually weak, but the beautiful and powerful Vrangharad, Mother of the Dewinne. Yet the last verse of the prophesy must be realised. The Seeds of Destruction had been sown and must be harvested. Only then can Truth be triumphant and health and prosperity returned to the Kingdom.