Stephen Attebrook, the deputy coroner of medieval Ludlow, wants more than anything to be part of an army gathering for an invasion of Wales, hoping for a stroke of luck that will bring him to the attention of some magnate and free him from poverty.But as the army is about to depart, a castle guard is found murdered at the foot of the castle walls and the precious relic of a saint intended as a gift for Prince Edward goes missing from a locked and guarded chamber.Stephen's superior, Sir Geoffrey Randall, is quick to volunteer his services to Edward to find the relic. The commission pitches Stephen into the path of a bitter and powerful enemy, Earl Percival FitzAllen. And the search for the relic - and the guard's killer - leads to adventure deep into Wales itself, where Stephen finds the battle he craves.