Flight of the Nighthawks

The Conclave of Shadows, the organisation charged with the protection of Midkemia, has problems. Leso Varen, a powerful and malign magician, and his Nighthawk assassins are plotting chaos and annihilation in the royal house of Kesh. But when the Conclave attempts to warn the Emperor, it becomes clear that many of the truebloods - nobles related by birth to the Emperor - are already Varen's slaves, and the Conclave is forced into a race against time to save Kesh before evil engulfs the land...