This is the story of Lyse Magdalene, niece and ward of the (historical) Duke Charles de Bourbon. She suffers with an inherited genetic memory (as we would deem it today) from which her mother died insane, screaming of pyres and of fires consuming her. The short, involuntary episodes of the past which Lyse experiences terrify her. But her uncle, Bourbon, exiled and forming a rebel army to overthrow Francois Premier, decides that he desperately needs Lyse's memory to help him recover the (historical) vast, lost treasure of the Knights Templar to finance his plans. Her strange ability is also known to Bourbon's enemies, who might try to kidnap her. In order to protect her, Bourbon secretly betroths Lyse to his trusted friend, Ferrante di Gonzaga.