After rescuing a stranger, Tarzan learns of the hidden rival cities of Athne and Cathne. In Cathne, the City of Gold, Queen Nemone is fascinated by him while political rivalries and the city’s use of trained lions place him in repeated danger.
The adventure carries the interwar traveller into an entirely invented world of rival kingdoms, court intrigue and ritualised violence. Cathne's wealth, trained lions and volatile queen give Tarzan a new kind of danger, one in which survival depends as much on reading political loyalties as on physical strength.
