What man was not meant to know.
Warning! Late Arrival Spoilers abound for previous books in the Starship's Mage series.
"Only the men and women I pick as Hands would call a murder investigation a vacation."
— Desmond Michael Alexander III
After the near-disaster between the systems of Sherwood and Míngliàng, Damien Montgomery is on leave while his escort ship is repaired. But a Hand is never truly at rest, so when a professor is murdered while investigating some alien ruins—the only interstellar alien ruins ever discovered—he goes to find the murderer, assuming it will be a simple matter to clear up.
What he discovers is a centuries-old conspiracy reaching to the very heart of Mars, testing his skill, magic, and loyalty to their limit. At every turn he is forced to consider who to trust, and consider the ideals that form the foundation of his nation.
But no one really knows what it means for a Rune Wright to go to war.
This book provides examples of:
- Batman Gambit: Damien calls ahead to let a potential Keeper know he wants to meet, knowing the Keeper will run, and Damien can follow him back to his base. It ends up a little more complicated than that because the Keeper has an unexpected escape route, but it does work.
- The Conspiracy: The Royal Order of the Keepers of Secrets and Oaths were founded by the first Mage-King in secret to hide anything he thought too terrible for the public to know yet—such as the true origins of human magic. They have agents in every single part of the magical government, to the point of even having a traitor among Damien's guards. Two of the Mage-King's Hands are also members, and turn on Damien without a second thought.
- Dark Secret: The Royal Order of the Keepers of Secrets and Oaths apparently have lots of them. Damien discovers early on that the Eugenicists learned magic and runes from aliens. According to the Keepers, that's the least dangerous of their secrets.
- E.T. Gave Us Wi-Fi: The Eugenicists learned magic and runes from an unknown alien race; that's why they didn't know that the Olympus Mons facility was an amplifier (the aliens didn't tell them), and why only a Rune Wright can use the amplifier (it wasn't designed for humans). The Keepers have been carefully scrubbing the alien ruins of any trace of magic; the plot begins when a professor gets annoyed and uses his magic to enter a place six months ahead of schedule, before the Keepers had a chance to clean it.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Charlotte Ndosi teleports Damien out of a nuclear explosion that destroys the Keeper's library.
- Humble Hero: Damien, once again. He seems to think that if he ever resigns from being a Hand, his only option would be to return to Sherwood and become a Jump Mage. The Mage-King notes that the current governor would probably retire within the month, let Damien get elected, and make pointed hints about the marriageability of his favorite granddaughter.
- Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: The Keeper's MO. They are willing to kill anyone who discovers one of their secrets and this is what turns Damien against them.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: After Damien refuses to work with the Keepers, Winton says that whether Damien wins or loses the fight, he'll never see Winton again.Winton: Unlike many you have faced, I do know what it means for a Hand to go to war.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: It's clear that Damien's biggest problem with the Keepers—and one of the reasons that he refuses to even consider that they might be right—is because they jump straight to killing everyone who gets in their way without a second thought. The whole mess started when the professor was murdered for finding the runes; the Keeper made a half-hearted attempt to recruit him, but killed him when that didn't work. As she's dying, Ndosi claims that someone screwed with their orders; at the very least, they should not have attempted an orbital bombardment of the alien ruins.
- Poor Communication Kills: This is what the Keepers insist happened with Damien and that if he knew their secrets then he would side with them. Damien disagrees and their every attempt to convince him only results in him becoming more driven to destroy them.
- "Not So Different" Remark:
- Winton claims that Damien and the Keepers are this, as Damien was willing to kill an entire city to save a planet. Damien retorts that for him that was a last resort rather than a first one, and more importantly, he didn't do it.
- In the end, Damien disproves any similarity to the Keepers when he advises the Mage-King to reveal the truth of what happened (at least to the Council), despite knowing that this will result in Damien himself put on trial for his actions.
- Politically Correct History: One of the jobs of the Keepers is to keep the origins of magic clean. Considering that the commonly-known history includes a planet-wide breeding program, horrible slavery, and genocide, the fact that the Keepers think the truth is worse is very disturbing.
- Sixth Ranger Traitor: Charlotte Ndosi is a Hand and a brief love interest before being revealed as a member of the Keepers.
- Turn in Your Badge: Damien threatens to resign as Hand if the Mage-King refuses to tell the Council what happened.
- We Can Rule Together: Winton suggests putting Damien on the throne of Mars if Damien agrees to work with the Keepers. Damien throws Winton through a wall. Damien later notes that even if he had been willing to betray the Mage-King, that job is so terrible he would never want it.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Keepers are insistent that despite the thousands of people they've killed to protect their secrets, it's still better than the bloodshed that would be unleashed if the secrets came out. They are convinced that if Damien knew the whole truth he'd agree with them—but they can't tell him the truth unless he agrees to join the Order, which he refuses to do.
