Britomart has spent her first two months as a knight waiting hopefully for a quest, only to find that her homeland of Galbrica is woefully short on nefarious lords who need vanquishing or mythical objects that need finding. She is more than a little relieved when a quest falls into her lap: Her sister's fiancé has gone missing in the Shadowed Wood. He is not quite a delicate princess who needs rescuing, but he will have to do.

What Britomart finds in the Shadowed Wood is more than she bargained for: a cave of sleepers sunk in bespelled slumber, a castle surrounded by roses with thorns sharp as daggers, and a sorceress with powers thought to have vanished centuries ago. In the Shadowed Wood, the old tales are still very much alive. But Britomart soon learns that old tales can be deceiving, and perhaps the real danger lies far closer to home.

As treachery brews within Galbrica, Britomart must choose between her loyalty to her homeland and her newfound attachment to the Shadowed Wood…and to the sorceress who dwells there.