It is December 1803, and Richard Sharpe is now an officer in Sir Arthur Wellesleys army which is seeking toend the Mahratta War. Relegated to a tedious job in thee baggage train, Sharpe discovers a treason conjured up by his old enemy, Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill, but in uncovering this Sharpe finds himself alone and under dreadful threat. He falls back on his fighting ability to regain his confidence and his treasure, the jewels of the Tippoo Sultan, which have been stolen from him.The search for revenge on the men who robbed him takes him to Gawilghur, a seemingly impregnable fortress poised high above the Deccan Plain. Bolstering its defences is the renegade Englishman, William Dodd, who escaped from Sharpe in Sharpes Triumph. Dodd is confident that no redcoat can reach him, but Sharpe is desperate and so he joins Wellesleys troops as they surge across the neck of land that leads to the breachesnever fought before.