Summer, 1119.On the Welsh Marches, the bastard son of a long-dead Crusader Knight, Edric Fitzwilliam, is cheated out of both his inheritance and the woman he loves by his knavish nephew, leaving him with no alternative other than to follow in the footsteps of his father and take the cross, journeying to the lands of Outremer in an effort to find his destiny. His arrival comes at a time of turmoil, warlords rising from Antioch, Jerusalem and Damascus, preparing to fight a battle that will determine the future of the Crusader States for the next hundred years. Thrown into the crucible of war, Edric must tread the road of empire and find a path to survival, lest he meet the fate of those destined to meet their fate at the Field of Blood...