The fourth book in the Dragon Quartet, and the notorious Polo Shawcross is desperate for a quiet life, but his family are still out to kill him. Back at Court in Sendren, Polo isn't the man you want to leave alone with the queen, but the king still loves him. The queen's rather fond of him too. Polo's worried as usual that he's losing his mind, and is thinking breeding ducks is as much excitement as he needs in the future. On the bright side, he's out of the army. Despite the king's hints that he'd like him back in it, Polo's sure he won't fight again, but the war's coming to Sendren. Is changing shape enough? Can Polo survive? Twisted adventure in a vivid new world where genesplicing accidentally creates real magic and Men (or Women) might be Dragon.