Returning to Saint Petersburg after a long exile, the dashing Yakovlev, a retired army officer, makes a comfortable living by winning other people's duels. An enigmatic, focused, and extremely skilled professional, he leaves a trail of dead bodies behind him as he swirls through polite society. But when Yakovlev meets the naive young Prince Tuchov and his beautiful sister, Princess Martha, the normally cold-hearted mercenary is surprised by hitherto...

Tsar Boris Godunov and his family are brutally slaughtered. Russia decends into a country of chaos. Andrey is the only witness to the massacre. Guided by faith and mysticism he transforms himself from a servant to a cavalier and sets off on a quest to save Princess Ksenia, who is the missing daughter of Godunov. Andrey joins forces with the people's army leader, Prince Pozharski, and faces down the Polish army in an explosive battle for Moscow.