John Pearce is hiding in Gravelines with his mysterious companion, known to him as Oliphant. Although they find a crew willing to take them back to England, they learn on the journey that Pearce’s old enemies, the Tolland brothers, are still active on the route and may have been responsible for the murder of Catherine Carruthers. Back in England their problems continue: Pearce must seek to mend fences with Emily Barclay, in a relationship in which nothing is simple. And just as things may be looking up, it seems Henry Dundas has another role for him and Oliphant: a mission to northeast Spain....

The final volume in the sweeping Conquest trilogy Over twenty years, the de Hauteville brothers have risen from penniless obscurity to become the most potent warrior family in Christendom: depended on by the Pope, feared by Byzantium, and respected by the Holy Roman Emperor. And now Roger, the youngest son, has finally come to Italy, where he also proves himself to be a great warrior and canny politician. It is he who will raise the family to the pinnacle of influence, not as vassals beholden to a greater power, but as rulers in their own right. But the path is not easy; brotherly love only goes so far and nothing has altered in the bubbling stew of Italian politics. There are enemies at Roger’s back as well as before him, battles to fight and defeats to be reversed, treacheries both secret and transparent to circumvent. Yet the loyalty of blood that binds this family of warriors together is still present and it is that, above everything, which will in the end be the catalyst that propels the name de Hauteville to the pinnacle of power as they face the mighty Saracen Emirs of Sicily and undertake, with papal blessing, the first true crusade of the eleventh century.