A lonely farm in the Hampshire hills is the only home Peter has ever known. Twelve years before, farmer Daniel found a babe in a basket on his doorstep. Someday, when Peter has laid old Daniel's bones to rest, he will go in search of his real family. Peter will search every village in England and inquire at every household until he learns the truth of how he came to be in that basket. On the night of Peter's twelfth birthday, two hooded men break in to the cottage and wrangle Peter into a cart, dosing him with a strange-tasting mead. Peter wakes to find that the family he had planned to search for had always known where he was. And they are not what he expected. His father is Alfred Castus, head of The Protectorate, a secret society sworn to protect the English monarchy. As Peter adjusts to his new life, he befriends an old rat catcher searching for a mysterious door, meets the ghost of Merlin, suspects his parents may be traitors and uncovers a plot to kill young King Henry III. Only Peter and his sister Gwen can save the King from the French villain Jondreau. And save Peter's parents from themselves.