A medical scare prompts the Prince of Kiev to appoint an heir to the throne, but who should it be? Perhaps a relative, a trusted friend or perhaps a member of foreign royalty? For once, the Prince acts quickly and appoints a successor - he chooses Zabava, his lovely niece. She now studies with her husband Yelisey in faraway Constantinople, where the cunning Basileus is the emperor. To escort the princess safely home, the Prince of Kiev asks the three heroes to travel to the distant land with his not-so-trusty talking court horse, Julius, but the journey is not without extreme danger since the Emperor wants to kill Zabava's husband and force her to marry his son so he can add Kiev to his Empire.—David Bassler