Book IV of Landover. Everything should have been quiet and pleasant for Ben Holiday, ex-lawyer-now ruler of the Magic Kingdom of Landover. But Horris Kew, conjuror turned con-man, had returned to the Magic Kingdom from Ben's world where he and his side-kick in crime - the talking bird Biggar - had gotten into a spot of trouble with the former faithful of their scam cult. Wizardly advisor Questor Thews recommended imprisonment in the deepest dungeon, followed by mislaying of the key; Court scribe Abernathy - who by a misfortune with magic now appeared as a Wheaten Terrier - advises ending Horris away. But as a fair and just ruler, Ben must consider the repatriation of Horris and Biggar to Landover. But Horris had been sent by the Gorse, a sorcerer of great evil, whom Horris had unwittingly freed, and the Gorse planned to use Horris to help enslave the fairy folk who had once dared to condemn it - after ridding Landover of all who could stand in its way. Soon Ben is imprisoned in the misty labyrinth of the Tangle Box, together with a lady who may have once been the Witch Nightshade and an unhappy gargoyle who may once have been the dragon Strabo. The path to the throne is clear for the Gorse and the only one who could free Ben is the Lady Willow. But she had vanished from Landover on a mysterious mission of her own...