From publisher blurb: Tormau castle in northwestern Rethem is the principal seat of Earl Denyl Lynnaeus, the most powerful of the kingdom's three tenants-in-chief and the most dangerous rival to King Chafin III. Tormau's location on an island in the mouth of the Denia River and astride the Scarlet Ribbon allows it to control trade with the tribes of the Peran region. Tormau dominates northern Rethem and the earl is carefully building an army for an expected civil war.