In the days and weeks after the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, chaos erupts in the royal court of Queen Elizabeth, in the household of William Shakespeare--and across all of London and England. The Queen's power has never been weaker. She has never been more vulnerable and emotionally unstable. Her government is rudderless. In this power void, we meet many of the most consequential figures of the age--including Robert Catesby, Doctor Roger Lopez, Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, and the Duke of Medina-Sidonia. Even worse, many of the Queen's most powerful Lords are mysteriously dying. Are their deaths natural? Or murder? Worst of all, the Queen receives intelligence of a possible Spanish invasion fleet being built at the port of Cádiz. The Queen has two momentous decisions to make--both of which will define the rest of her reign. She must decide whether to attack Cádiz. She sends Sir Francis Drake--and his raid of Cádiz is one of the most daring military ventures in the history of the world. She must also decide whether to investigate these mysterious deaths of her Lords. She makes a decision that will have tragic consequences for her and for the people involved. Meanwhile, something is awakening in Shakespeare. He is angry and confused by the execution of Mary, whose death might spark a war. He fears that he or his siblings might have be forced to serve in the army or the navy. He has a momentous decision to make. He must leave his home in Stratford-Upon-Avon, but where should he go? In the days right before he begins a fateful journey, we learn about his past, his family's history--and how his talent as a writer was first born. These events, in 1587, are some of the darkest and most important moments in the untold story of William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth.