Synopsis: Beginning with the framing story Roilant comes to the Honey Garden looking for Cyrion, who first seems to be only a legend. But the episodes told in this collection tell a different story. From the back cover of the DAW first printing: "He came to the Honey Garden looking for Cyrion. He was a man in grave danger, convinced only one man alive could help him. A man he had heard about in song and story. A man practically everyone knew something about. A man he had never met. Some said he was the stolen son of a western king, raised by nomads in the desert. A freelance swordsman, a sorcerer, a master of disguise, some said he attracted bizarre, uncanny events as some persons attract misfortune. He with hair like the sky of earnest sunrise, his fair complexion, his whiplash reactions and quicksilver elegance was like a being from another world. A legend. A myth. But was he real? And was he for hire?"