Even as Europe enters the Age of Enlightenment, Spain hunts and butchers any who dare to defy its ironclad Catholic orthodoxy. Only Britain's brilliant young Queen Elizabeth I is willing to stem the tide, but she needs a new kind of weapon to fight a new kind of war, making use of stealth and secrecy instead of bloodshed. In this tense situation, Her Majesty's Secret Service is created, with the charismatic John Dee at its head. A scholar, a soldier, and an alchemist, Dee is loyal only to the truth and to his Queen—and for her, the woman he's forbidden from loving, he is prepared to risk his life.