The year is 1877 and the Ottoman Empire is embroiled in war. A young man escapes a crumbling fortress during a military siege. Disguising himself as a jester, he entertains the enemy camp before disappearing into the night. He sets out on a passionate and daring mission that involves a wealthy family, secret contrabandists, corrupt government officials, self-absorbed clerics, and a young propagandist from Constantinople. All are in pursuit of their own secret motives, while their nation lies on the brink of doom...

Twelve-year-old Vahan Kenderian, the son of an influential Armenian family in Turkey, struggles to survive alone after witnessing the deaths of many of his family and friends during the Armenian massacres of the early twentieth century.