Hidden in exile, Lady Ophelia is found and murdered by her enemies. From the eternal misery of Purgatory she is released by the Ancient Bard, a spirit who promises no salvation, and grants her a life more dangerous and terrifying than the last. By the time she hears her son is still in power, that her grandson Vincenzo is building his reputation in the Tiberian army, she's already mired in the plots of her niece Carmen, a charmingly deceptive woman who will stop at nothing to liberate her clan from the usurping Tiberians. Dire machinations await both sides. While the Ancient Bard whispers, he awakens in Ophelia a heinous necromancy, a curse that will shatter her sanity or save everyone she loves.