Adjutant general Axel Roos is selected by King Charles XII to deliver a message to the court from the army in Bender, current day Moldova. His ride will take him straight through hostile Europe, where both Russians and Poles have interests in capturing him.
The architect Georg Wall is sitting in his spacious Stockholm apartment. He has been waiting several hours since lunch for his significantly younger wife, Lola Wall, to appear. When she eventually comes home, she wants a divorce.
