Six years have passed since the defeat of the uprising of the Circle of Eighteen. The Black Squad, still serving the Lady, moves relentlessly through the territory of her empire all these years—finishing off surviving rebel groups and preventing attempts at new uprisings.
And now, in pursuit of yet another such group, several members of the Squad arrive far to the north, in the city of Archu. But it turns out that the situation here is far more serious than expected—beside the city looms a mysterious black castle, steadily growing in size. What’s more, it turns out that in Archa hides also Voron, a deserter from the Squad, who, though mostly by ignorance, has already put in quite a bit of effort to make the castle grow. And when the castle reaches the necessary size, its inhabitants will be able to free the Lord—once the ruler of the empire and husband of the Lady, whom she once betrayed.