On the continent of Westeros, where power and intrigue intertwine, bloodlines determine destiny, and the truth is often deadlier than a sword.
In the power vacuum following the fall of the Targaryen dynasty, undercurrents stir throughout the Seven Kingdoms. When Rickard Stark, Duke of the North, dies under mysterious circumstances, his eldest son Eddard is forced to inherit his title, only to find himself caught in a carefully woven web of political intrigue. A cryptic message left by his dying father, the sudden death of Jon Arryn, the strange disappearance of his sister Lyanna, and the murder of an envoy from Dragonstone: behind these seemingly unrelated events lies a shocking secret capable of overturning the Seven Kingdoms.
Forced to marry into a rival house, Eddard is appointed the new Hand of the King. He has no choice but to leave the frozen North and travel south to King’s Landing, the heart of the power struggle. There, he faces the suspicions of the Mad King Aerys II, the mysterious plans of Prince Rhaegar, and a bloody wedding now in the making. Meanwhile, the secret known by the missing Lyanna may be the very truth that every faction is willing to kill to conceal.
In this deadly game where the Iron Throne is the prize, Eddard must learn the ways of southern intrigue without abandoning the North’s code of honor. In this game, defeat means not only his own death, but the destruction of House Stark itself.
