Publisher's Synopsis
Saxony in the year 1190. Walter of Westereck, the youngest offspring of a knightly lineage, is obligated to compete in his first tournament, hosted by his family's arch-enemy, Count Konrad of Lauenau.
The Count's troubled daughter Yolanda beseeches Walter to free her from the clutches of her sadistic brother Wilfried.
Walter disbelieves her story and moves on, while her hate-fuelled brother razes Westereck Castle to the ground and executes Walter's father in cold blood.
Swearing revenge, Walter pursues Wilfried and Yolanda, who are suddenly forced to embark on a pilgrimage of penance to the Holy Land after being convicted of incest and kin slaying.
Walter takes up with a troop of armed pilgrims until he reaches the city of Acre in Palestine, where Christians and Muslims have been warring mercilessly for years.
There he encounters his mortal enemy, only to find he is under the protection of the powerful King Richard the Lionheart ...
