The Staff of the Tsar of Muscovy

Legends say that an alicorn—a unicorn’s horn—grows cloudy and changes color in the presence of poison. And if you drop a piece of the horn into poison, the alicorn will foam and neutralize the poison. Tsar Ivan the Terrible (1530–1584) also wanted to acquire an alicorn. The unicorn became the king’s personal emblem, and its image appeared on a small state seal. However, Ivan the Terrible’s alicorn turned out to be fake. A staff made of a unicorn horn not only failed to save the king—it, very likely, became the very cause of his premature death.

The new novel by the well-known writer Vitaly Gladky reveals the mystery behind the enigmatic and terrible death of one of the most grim rulers of Rus!