The fate of an empire trembles in the balance ...'

Hindustan, 1580 AD. The Mughal Emperor Akbar is at the height of his power, seemingly invincible. But twenty years of war have earned him many enemies, and rebellion is brewing, led by Asaf Baig, the tyrannical ruler of Khandesh. Baig has stumbled upon the knowledge that the whereabouts of the fabulous lost treasure of Malik Kafur, which will guarantee victory to Akbar's enemies, is known to an old woman called Ambu.

Baig kidnaps Ambu to wrest the knowledge of the treasure from her, but her twenty-year-old grandson, Dattatreya, escapes and flees across Hindustan to enlist the help of the the one person who has the most reason to stop Baig - the Mughal Emperor himself.

Staying one step ahead of capture and death, Datta is swept up in a world of kings and warrior princesses, of uncommon friendships and an implacable evil; and a desperate race against time to save his grandmother - and the Empire.