York, England, the warm October of 1371. Owen Archer has little taste for feuds between powerful men now that his wife, Lucie, has lost the child she carried and seems to lose her will to live as well. Yet Owen cannot ignore the recent arrival of William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester. For one thing, the bishop believes someone is trying to kill him, and Owen is given the job of keeping him safe.Wykeham has good reason to worry. The family of a local knight blames him for the nobleman's death in a French dungeon despite their offers of ransom. Trying to make amends, Wykeham brings the heart of "the cross-legged knight" home for burial. But the family is not appeased and the pompous churchman is not in York a fortnight before fire engulfs his town house.The bishop survives unharmed, but a servant is badly burned and a mysterious woman lies murdered among the ruins. Now caring for the wounded man in their own home, Lucie battles her inner demons while Owen fears a web of intrigue is entangling them all in the schemes of knights, bishops, even kings. His only hope is to set a trap so cunning that the killer - no matter how important a personage - cannot escape. Read Less