The oath was iron.

The man was not.

Sir Garrick Vale once believed the Order of Iron existed to protect the kingdom and preserve its laws. Knights of the Order were sworn to stability above all else - above mercy, above doubt, above their own conscience.

Now Garrick rides under orders again.

His mission is simple: escort a condemned prisoner across six hundred miles of dangerous country to the judiciary in Varenhal, where the man will face trial and certain execution.

The prisoner, Lukas Thorne, is no common criminal. Once a royal advisor, he exposed secrets the crown insists must remain buried.

As they ride through the broken countryside left behind by civil war, Garrick begins to see the cost of the stability he has sworn to defend - villages stripped by levies, laws twisted by power, and an Order that may serve the crown more faithfully than it serves justice.

But Garrick has taken the oath.

And the oath does not bend.

To break it would mean death.

To keep it may mean something worse.