When his sovereign--and best friend--was killed, Ehren, First of the King's Guard, was far away. He had been sent on a wild goose chase by the First Level Ministry, whose number he now believes must contain at least one traitor. When a First Level wizard orders him to stop searching for the assassins and instead to find and neutralize the dead king's nephews, his suspicions deepen to near certainty. And Ehren is determined to find them--but only so that he may guard them with his life.