Lucy has been forced to run away from home as she fears for her safety from her drunken father.

She is taken on as a maid at the house of Dr Dee, court magician, upon whom Elizabeth I relies heavily, even down to advising the date of her coronation.

The household is strange and sinister, and Lucy has a nose for intrigue and soon Lucy has more than enough intrigue to satisfy her - she becomes convinced of a plot to assassinate the queen and has to find means to warn her.