second in the legendary lymond chronicles queens play follows francis crawford of lymond who has been abruptly called into the service of mary queen of scots though she is only a little girl the queen is already the object of malicious intrigues that extend from her native country to the court of france it is to france that lymond must travel exercising his sword hand and his agile wit while also undertaking the most unlikely of masquerades all to make sure that his charges royal person stays intact this exploration of the subtle psychology in tolstoys characterization avoids complex terminology and assumes a readership studying the text in english translation