His entire life, Prince Danti has been groomed to lead a jihad against the nations of Aarde as the Rajajaga, the King and Judge of the World, but Danti wants no part of the war, despite the torment his father, the Sultan Akhaeon, inflicts upon him. Instead, Danti attempts to free his whipping-boy slave, Rabhas, and overthrow his father's regime, but when Danti refuses to take his place as the scourge of the heathen, he learns that there are far more terrible things than his father in the city of Meknes and far worse things coming. As Danti, Rabhas, and the Sultan fight for the soul of Meknes, their true Enemy emerges, the legendary Magi known as the Rat King, and he will not be broken until Danti decides his own fate: holy war or martyrdom, the path to power or the path to wisdom.