THE STONE OF DESTINY

In the aftermath of the mysterious death of her husband – Henry Stuart, King Consort of Scotland - Mary, the Catholic Queen of Scots struggles to hold onto her throne. Her influential Protestant noblemen, believing Henry Stuart’s death was a murder in which Mary was an accessory, now plot to replace her with her infant son James.

Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth, head of the Reformed Anglican Church, feels threatened by Mary, who also possesses a claim to the English throne. There are additional reasons for Elizabeth to feel insecure. Her ancient English nobility - both Catholic and Protestant – is deeply resentful of the powerful influence of her chief counselor, William Cecil and his functionaries, whom they regard as mere common upstarts. The English noblemen conspire to replace Elizabeth and Cecil by entering into treasonous discussions with Mary, Queen of Scots; her French relatives of the arch-Catholic House of Guise; their ardent Catholic ally, King Philip of Spain; and Pope Pius V.

In Ireland a mounting rebellion sees Hugh O’Neill, Baron of Dungannon, a loyal servant of the English Crown in Ulster, ordered south to assist English Privateers in their struggle to occupy the lands of Gaelic Lords and their Norman cousins. A barbarous conflict ensues in which Hugh rides with the Privateer Captain Humphrey Gilbert and proves his loyalty by washing his hands in the blood of his Gaelic countrymen. The rebels send an emissary to Spain to plead for assistance in the name of religion.

Later, Hugh discovers a mysterious ‘throne of stone’ sitting in a hill-side field just outside his foster parent’s residence. He learns it is the chair in which O’Neills are traditionally inaugurated as Princes and Kings to rule over Ulster, Ireland and Scotland.

However, Hugh is warned, it is treason for an O’Neill to entertain such an ambition.