It’s July, 1483, and King Richard III’s usurpation of his nephew, King Edward V, has been thwarted mere weeks after his coronation. The rightful King and his younger brother have both been successfully freed, alive but dazed and traumatized, from the Tower of London where they had both been abandoned to fade from the annals of history. But their rescue, at the hands of Henry Stafford 2nd Duke of Buckingham, comes at a price. For it is the Duke, formerly Richard III’s closest ally but with strong family ties to the Lancastrians, who now rules as Protector of England. King Edward, still a child, is nothing more than his puppet and the Duke is free to do as he pleases, for good or ill and access to the King in strictly controlled. However, Edward may be a child. But he is also a Plantagenet and the eldest son and heir of the warrior King, Edward IV. His army of sisters and his formidable mother are fighting his corner, along with many of those who had once been loyal to the new king’s father. Meanwhile, the Lancastrians and the Tudors are still a threat, gaining strength both in England and overseas in Brittany and France. England is far from settled. The tentative peace brought about by the late King, Edward IV, was once more torn asunder by Richard’s failed usurpation. Factions have reformed, rival claimants gather strength.
