1592/93 Sir Robert Carey has finally got his Warrant as Deputy Warden - and also a command from the Queen that he find out if there really is a conspiracy against the King of Scotland's life.
The pursuivant, Simon Anricks arrives to help him decide about going back to Scotland - where he was tortured by the ex-Favourite Lord Spyne and Sir Henry Widdrington, abusive husband of the woman Carey loves. A brand new Court suit in the Scottish style, subsidised by Anricks, tips the balance.
Carey heads for the Scottish Court in Edinburgh with Sergeant Dodd, who is enraged with him for letting the Elliots escape massacre.
Christmas at King James's Court is awash in alcohol and conspiracy. The entertainment is a public disputation on New Year's Eve about whether the Sun goes around the Earth, as all sensible people know, or the Earth around the Sun which is blasphemous nonsense held only by Anricks.
Not one but two assassination plots are aimed at the Scottish King - which would remove Queen Elizabeth's best successor and plunge England and Scotland into Civil War.
