Luke's first mission for the incoming King is to investigate the administration of an aging, autocratic peer who is also a purveyor of magic. This complex peer is being undermined by a son who engages in dubious land deals and who supports the activities of an outlawed Catholic priest. Luke is forced to confront a defrocked Anglican priest, several promiscuous women, and a series of murders whose motives may lie in the turbulent presence or the distant past.