Book 3 of The Crucible Trilogy.
As Hal Bolingbroke, the Demon-King, prepares for a tournament in honour of his ascending to the throne, Thomas Neville and Margaret know that Neville will have to make a decision soon . . . Will Neville take the side of the angels, or the side of the angel's children on earth, the demons?
At the tournament, Exeter and his allies challenge Bolingbroke, and it is only through the intervention of Mary, Hal's wife, that disaster is averted. Mary insists that Richard II's body must be shown to the public so that all know he is dead. It is in the church where the open coffin, with its dreadful corpse, is displayed that the Black Dog of Pestilence comes as a harbinger of death. The plague kills many as Hal also puts his enemies to death so that none may challenge him again.
Thomas loves Margaret, but he knows she has not always told him the truth; and his love is not unconditional. He cannot hand his soul to Margaret, and so the demon-children will be consigned back to hell . . . or so the Archangel Michael hopes. But Thomas Neville has been through much in his life, and is not prepared to be manipulated by the angels any more than he is prepared to be manipulated by Hal or Margaret.
Neville finds those he can trust for himself, and there are those who will surprise him. And while Neville prevaricates, Hal wants the French throne through Catherine, the daughter of Isabeau de Baviere.
