John Marco presents the riveting continuation of the great fantasy saga begun inThe Jackal of NarandThe Grand Design-- in which a young prince and a tyrant form a daring alliance with a band of rebels ... against a terrifying crisis that threatens to devastate a world. Biagio, Emperor of Nar, was once a madman and a tyrant. Now he wants peace. The irony is that no one believes him. Instead, the cruelest of his minions -- Elrad Leth, Governor of Aramoor, and King Tassis Gayle of Talistan -- are amassing an army to usurp his throne, bringing a new scourge of death to a battle-scarred world. But the wily Biagio, still a brilliantly devious leader, has one more desperate plan. At the heart of the scheme is Alazrian Leth, bastard son of Aramoor's governor. Barely sixteen, bookish and untrained, this young prince secretly possesses rare magical talents. Biagio sends Alazrian on a near-impossible mission: to convince outlawed priest Jahl Rob and his followers -- the fearless Saints of the Sword -- to search for the exiled ruler of Aramoor and the mysterious people called the Triin. If these ancient enemies can unite into one great army, a boy's strange and wonderful magic may be the spark to heal a wounded world ... or set in motion an unimaginable betrayal.