Richard, the ambitious third son of the House of York, believes he is cursed, damned from birth to eternal darkness. But is it truly fate that sets him on the path to personal destruction? Or his own tormented longings? Based on an early draft of Shakespeare's Richard III, Aya Kanno's dark fantasy finds the man who could be king standing between worlds, between classes, between good and evil.

As the war between Lancaster and York rages on, the physical bond between Richard and Prince Edward becomes ever more apparent. Edward's loyalties are tested in the heat of battle as his wife, Anne, carries out a desperate act to protect their dominion.