443 CE in the Visigoth Kingdom of Toulouse. Signy Wealda, herbalist and midwife, has recently married Geseric, nephew of Duke Thormond, commander of the army and second only to Theodoric, the king, and their first child is on the way. The sudden death of Geseric's uncle, Count Sismond of Agininum, sparks a competition among the Visigoth nobles to be his successor as ruler of her home town, with Geseric's cousin Wiseric as favourite. Signy is concerned for her friends in the old count's household. Whoever the king appoints, they will certainly lose their positions and home. Her worry increases when she learns that Count Sismond had been taking a mysterious medication provided by a local wise woman. A poisoning, even accidental, could put patients at risk and under- mine the reputation of the whole guild of herbalists. But is the death of Count Sismond merely the result of the negligence of a confused old woman?