A.D. 869

Emma's future looked bright. King Charles the Bald was marrying her aunt and her father had become his chief advisor. There was even talk of a possible engagement between Emma and the king's grandson.

Then everything changed. While taking a walk on the grounds of the royal palace at Aachen, she overheard four men discussing the final details of a plot to overthrow the king and banish Emma's family from the empire. Moreover, this was no ordinary conspiracy. It involved the emperor himself, Pope Hadrian II, King Louis the German, and even Prince...