Robert of Artois, the kingmaker, and his aunt, Mahaut, involve Philippe VI of France in their vicious, no-holds-barred power struggle. Mahaut dies and Robert is banished, to die only when he has inspired the new king of England, Edward III, to start the Hundred Years' War. Meanwhile the sorceress Beatrice, Jeanne the Lame, and the mysterious La Divion come forward to play their sinister parts in this tale of conspiracy and murder.