Elaine and Johan are preparing to leave Golden
City, with Daria and the travellers, in order to search for the
Witch-King. The Grand Sorceress instructs Inquisitor Cass to help them.
But before Elaine can leave she is arrested by two Inquisitors on the
orders of the Emperor. When she resists she is hit with a powerful
spell that forces her to concentrate all her efforts on protecting her
mind from its intrusion. Taken to the palace she finds that the Grand
Sorceress has been removed and the Throne has accepted an heir to the
Empire. Realising this has to be the work of the Witch-King, Elaine must defeat the spell that is eating away at her defences if she is to
escape and destroy him. Meanwhile, Johan, Daria and Cass are trying to
find a way to get to Elaine and break her out of the cell in which she
is being held.
The Golden City is still widely devastated from the
disastrous battle for power that followed the death of the previous
Grand Sorcerer. The recent escalating breakdown of social order can
only be made worse by the return of an Emperor and the imposition of
martial law. The Privy Councillors and Heads of the Great Houses succumb to the power of the new Emperor, as he amasses a huge army. It is up to Elaine and her friends, with some unexpected help, to prevent an
all-out war.
The third instalment in the Bookworm series, The Best Laid Plans follows on immediately from the events in The Very Ugly Duckling, with Elaine and Johan joined by other favourite characters as they try to track down the Witch-King.
