The second book in the Pagan Chronicles.
It's 1188, and the infidels have conquered Jerusalem. Forced into exile, seventeen year old Pagan escapes to France with his Templar lord, the noble Roland. But Lord Roland's homecoming is marred by conflict as his violent family clash both with their neighbours and with each other. At the centre of this bloody feud stands the highly principled Esclaramonde, a woman whose enigmatic character and heretical religious beliefs both disturb and attract Roland.
Pagan, who narrates this tale with his characteristic wit and insight, finds that he too has unpalatable truths to confront.
