Lord Shigeru, heir to the Otori clan, faces hostility from the ambitious Iida family. His training as a warrior has prepared him for leadership, but fate and Shigeru's youthful determination bring the Three Countries to war, and he must endure defeat and its brutal consequences. Shigeru waits for the moment when he can win back the Middle Country and be with the woman he loves, the Lady Maruyama. But his life is under constant threat He had friends among the assassins of the Tribe who will not only protect him but reveal the existence, in a remote mountain village, of a boy who might prove to be 'the unexpected move that opens up the whole game'. So begin the Tales of the Otori.