A Queen and a Rook

Even a King should be careful what he wishes for... It is 493 BC. The tragic death of the chosen heir plunges a Kingdom into crisis. With no obvious male successor, a King must choose between his daughters. His favourite may not please an all-powerful army, the greatest of all Scythia, opposed to a deepening of relations with an historic enemy. A solution may lie in a proposed marriage of his two young granddaughters, one of whom will one day wear his crown. The spectre of a foreign prince, so close to the throne, may sting a resentful cabal of Generals to recklessness...