Memory and Danger For three hundred years the Martel Kingdom has expanded in every direction from the impregnable fortress of Tour Hote. It is the mightiest kingdom to rise from the terrible wars that erased all memory of civilization and history. Now, for the first time since Before Remembering, the fate of a nation rests in the hands of a slave boy. Fourteen-year-old Hengist has no memory of how he arrived in Lagrandil, but when he chooses to protect a prince instead of freeing himself, he finds himself helplessly trapped in the deadly politics of the Martel Warrior society. The priests want him dead, the nobles want him gone, and his only friends have dark secrets of their own. As rumors of invasion spread throughout the kingdom, Hengist and his best friend, Prince Leif Martel must discover the secrets of history before enemies of the past cause even the mightiest fortress to fall, with them inside.