The forces of King Charles are victorious; their Parliamentarian enemies in deep crisis. In the west the crucial port city of Bristol has fallen & Royalist eyes fall quickly upon neighbouring Gloucester. Its walls are weak its garrison under strength & its governor
- Sir Edward Massie
- suspected of harbouring sympathy for the King. Stryker & his men are with the army as it converges on Gloucester still reeling from the loss of a close friend at the bloody Battle of Stratton. Ordered to infiltrate the rebel city on a mission to discover whether Massie will indeed surrender Stryker reluctantly embarks upon his most desperate mission yet. But Gloucester's defenders are more resolute than any had imagined & catastrophe soon befalls him. With his life seemingly forfeit Stryker is spared by an unlikely saviour; Vincent Skaithlocke his former commander. The mercenary has returned to England to fight for Parliament & offers Stryker his protection. As old friends adjust to life fighting for opposing sides Stryker begins to question his own loyalties.. .but a chance discovery makes him realise that all in Gloucester is not what it seems for a hidden menace threatens his own life & that of King Charles himself.