Long live Henry IX! Just seventeen years old, King Henry IX, known as William, is anxious to prove himself. With the French threatening war and the Catholics' rebellion, he trusts only three people: his older sister Elizabeth; his loyal counsellor, Dominic; and Minuette, a young orphan raised as a royal ward by William's mother, Anne Boleyn. Against a tide of secrets, betrayal, and murder, William finds himself fighting for the very soul of his kingdom - and for his right to marry for love not duty.