Its 1308 & England hovers on the brink of civil war. Edward II his wife Isabella & the royal favourite Peter Gaveston Earl of Cornwall have been forced to retreat to the Kings folly. Just an arrowshot away lie the Great Lords & Philip IV of France who are demanding that the Earl of Cornwall be charged with high treason. Edward is trapped & worse he has learnt that Philip has the Poison Maiden on his side a formidable spy who did untold damage during his fathers reign. As Edward tries in vain to unmask the identity of the spy Mathilde handmaiden to the Queen also attempts to identify the source of this threat. Soon the crisis spills over into violence. The Lords attempt to take Gaveston by force & the King & his Court including Mathilde are forced to flee. As the enemy closes in Mathilde finds herself embroiled in a life & death struggle for the English crown.