Victorian Era

London, 1888. Alfred Victor, a bankrupt printer's son scraping by as a dockworker, discovers a manuscript hidden in a crate of scrap paper. It teaches "Ink-Binding" - the art of writing contracts that, when signed, bind the soul. The ink itself becomes a weapon. The written word can kill.

Cinderthorpe, 1871. Prudence Ruddock, an unlicensed apothecary, links a run of "gastric fever" deaths to a parish charity's free cordial dosed with antimony. Unlicensed and disbelieved in court, she must prove a respected secretary's guilt before he ruins her shop and her name.