King Louis of France is about to invade Egypt on his vainglorious Seventh Crusade. The Pope and the Emperor are at each other's throats. And where greed and ambition cross, blood soon follows.

Caught in the middle of this is Petroc of Auneford, or Patch to his friends. After years aboard the Cormoran, a ship of relic-traders and adventurers, Patch has finally returned to living on dry land. Now a rich man, running a bank in Venice, life should be easy. But money and liberty are not the same thing - and all too soon, Patch is being called on by all sides to do their bidding in this deadly game of power and glory.

As the rulers of Europe crush lives like beetles underfoot, Patch knows if he, his friends and his beloved Iselda are to stay alive, he must go to the blistering heart of the crusade, where zealot, infidel, mercenary and heretic fight to the death. He must outwit the cunning, outrun disease and death and find a way to true freedom. And all the while, cling on to a precious dream of home...