Once a notorious mercenary in the disparate, war-torn Pagentorn Fiefs, Ivan Valentine had hoped his days of bloodshed and violence were over when he and his brother settled on the planet Oridia. An old man, he promptly tried to forget nearly three decades of bitter feuds and protracted, savage campaigns—with little success.

Now, however, he finds the past never really goes away—or, worse still, it comes back to find you. As the revolution on Oridia forces him and his nieces into exile, he finds himself, once again, fighting to stay alive in the Fiefs.