Caprice and Rondo

January 1474 in ice-bound Danzig, and Nicholas de Fleury is entertaining himself, as well as considering various offers for his lethal skills. From subtle, ambitious Venice; from a pirate he once knew; from the great Persian prince Uzum Hasan: from his former companion Julius and his superb wife Anna. Even from Ludovico da Bologna, Patriarch of Antioch, who will use any tool against the Turk – including a brilliant erstwhile banker cast out by his friends and colleagues after the unforgivable ruin he wreaked in Scotland.

But as he threads his dangerous path through political minefields, war-torn Crimea and wild Russian steppes, Nicholas has more private concerns. The attentions of his vengeful family. A putative cache of gold. Above all, the fear that he may have left unprotected everyone he most loves.