Summoned to investigate the mysterious deaths of five guards standing watch over the great tomb of Kheops, a young novice judge finds himself embroiled in a hotbed of greed and corruption. For Judge Pazair's refusal to sign a document he doesn't understand has led him to uncover a monstrous plot to assassinate the pharaoh, Ramses the Great. With the aid of Neferet, the woman he loves, and his blood brother, the former scribe Suri, Pazair sets out to expose the truth, solve a series of brutal murders and thwart a brazen attempt to overthrow the State. But can he stay alive in the process?