Twelve children, gifted far beyond their years, banished by their queen and given sanctuary at Rotherweird. Four and a half centuries on, the town of Rotherweird is still bound by the Elizabethan laws that keep it isolated from the rest of England. Then an Outsider arrives: a man of unparallelled wealth and power, enough to buy the town of Rotherweird - deep-buried secrets and all ... A twisted, arcane murder-mystery!