Strider Constantine, is a handsome, wealthy batchelor with an extensive business network and exclusive social circle. However, despite his wealth, he lives alone in what was once an abandoned watchtower.

Having rebuffed many requests for courtship, including one by none other than the heir to the throne of Undelund, Strider receives an unexpected visit from the sweet-natured Princess Derdana.

Eager to understand this mysterious man, Princess Derdana soon learns of the promise Stider had made when he was thirteen to his childhood sweetheart, twelve-summers-old Camelia Durand and the tragedy that followed.

What did Strider promise his childhood sweetheart?

How does a man, pursued by numerous eligible ladies, remain committed to a girl long deceased?

Can a man live on fruitfully, when the girl he loved as a boy has long since passed?