A.D. 1030. Senior Secretary Sugawara Akitada is recovering from a knife wound and still reeling from the loss of his wife. When the Council of State orders an investigation of the claims of two warring temples, he is sent to Otsu to clear up the...
December, 1142. A brother of Shrewsbury Abbey suffers a fall that almost kills him. He makes a shocking deathbed confession to Brother Cadfael. When the man recovers Cadfael accompanies him on an arduous journey to redeem his past...