Boy has survived the terrors of life with the magician Valerian, dark magic and deadly chases through gloomy catacombs, but he is still on the run. Now, as the City lies frozen in the icy claws of winter, he is captured and incarcerated in the Emperor Frederick's palace. Boy is transported to a world of gilded finery, splendour and wealth beyond his wildest imagining. But beneath its golden veneer, this world is just as full of madness and cruelty, of desperation, closely guarded secrets and terrifying revelations.