The war of Honce drags on, and the roads and seas are littered with bodies. Trapped, Dame Gwydre and Father Artolivan concoct a desperate plot to join forces with Laird Ethelbert and Bransen seeks to extricate himself from the selfish goals of all the combatants, including his old nemesis, Bannagran--the Bear of Honce and the man who slew his adoptive father.