Apprentice healer Lassair encounters a mysterious veiled noblewoman
who brings unexpected peril
When Lassair encounters a veiled noblewoman on the quay at Cambridge one
morning, set on by an angry mob, she assumes involvement with her will
be brief. She has no idea that the woman, alone but for her infant
child, brings both mystery and peril. Then a devastating flood hits the
fens, and among the wreckage and debris washed up at Aelf Fen is a body;
Lassair, in the company of a sheriff's officer, wonders if she is
dealing with murder . . .
Meanwhile, in the south, Lassair's partner Rollo is moving with relief
towards the conclusion of his mission for King William in the Holy Land.
But then disaster strikes, and, with the mighty forces of an emperor on
his heels, abruptly he turns from hunter to hunted. In order to escape
alive, he risks help from a stranger, and embarks on a voyage that turns
out to be far more dangerous than he could ever have imagined.