Hired by Venice's ruling Council of Ten to uncover a foreign spy, seer Maestro Nostradamus soon discovers that the spy can only be caught by occult means and must turn to Alfeo Zeno, a swordsman in possession of some unique talents, to solve the mystery.

A magical battle rages between Cardice, where the Brothers Magnus have assembled, and a neighbouring state which has a significant military advantage and several officers who can request help from the saints, believed by many to be the devil. Cardice's secret weapon is Wulfgang Magnus, who can also communicate with these devil-saints, but Wulf finds himself torn between loyalty and his love for Madlenka, the countess from Cardice who was forcibly...

Having just finished five years of training to become deadly "blades"--the finest swordsmen in the land--Wasp and Raider refuse to bind themselves to the king during the graduation ceremonies and become outlaws and head for the dreaded "Fire Lands" to redeem themselves in battle.

Anton, an ambitious young knight, and Wulfgang, an amiable teenager who hears Voices that may belong to the devil or saints (depending on who tells the tale), join Cardinal Zdenek's forces with the assignment to take the strategic fortress at Cardice, command the army there, and hold Cardice against neighboring enemies.

Durwin is enlisted to help investigate a treasonous conspiracy in Lincoln Castle against the King.

Enduring years of painful loyalty to a ruler he has never respected, Sir Wolf is ordered to accompany a mysterious inquisitor and his impetuous younger brother on a mission to rescue former royal mistress Lady Celeste, a task that leads to the discovery of threatening secrets.

Hampered by arthritis, Nostradamus is in no mood for granting favors or running about looking for trouble. But when his apprentice Alfeo's mistress asks him to investigate the murder of her beloved courtesan mentor--and promises a fortune in payment-he comes around. It appears that someone is murdering the courtesans of Venice. All were well-known, admired for their skills-and somehow connected by a sinister event involving one of the great families...