The young physician Senmut leads a quiet life that revolves entirely around his patients and his family. The peace is shattered when he finds the body of a stranger on his doorstep, whose obviously violent death is shrouded in mystery. The few tantalizing clues Senmut is able to gather only add to the confusion. Then Senmut is called upon to cure the ailing pharaoh Amunhotep Nebmaatre as a matter of urgency to enable him to celebrate his second Sed-Festival. Senmut is at a loss why of all people he, the low-ranking nameless physician, is chosen for this daunting task. Is it really only because of his professional ability, or are there other, more sinister reasons he is unaware of? Why is he bound to absolute secrecy, and why are people trying to kill him? And has the dead stranger anything to do with any of this? The harder Senmut tries to find the answers to these questions, the deeper the mystery gets. Years full of uncertainty go by until the secret is finally unravelled. But there is a price to be paid, as the knowledge is connected with yet another task. A task that causes everything else he has done so far to pale into insignificance. The story is continued in "Curse of the Sun" (The Saviour of the Two Lands Book 2).