Horris Kew, conjuror and confidence-trickster, has returned to the Magic Kingdom of Landover, and a chorus of disapproval immediately assaults Ben Holiday´s ears. Both Questor Thews, the Court Wizard, and Abernathy, the Court Scribe (currently, magically transformed into a dog) urge Ben to lock him up or exile him. Fair as ever, Ben decides to consider the problem rather than act immediately. Alas, this leads to disaster, for Horris´s return is not what it seems, and Ben soon finds himself in deadly peril. Only his lady, Willow, holds the means to save him. But Willow has disappeared on a mysterious mission of her own...