Waif. Urchin. Bastard. Sneakthief. Trash. Rembert had heard them before. Abandoned on the steps of the church as a babe to be raised in a better life than the single mother could hope to give, the parish took on another mouth to feed. His first year of reckoning was seven. That was when the famine fell upon the shire of York. That was the year the church in Little Town fell vacant from the specter that death brought to the priest with the scourge that followed the famine. That was the year Rembert was exposed to "family." Ninth-century feudal life offered meager hand-to-mouth existence in the frontiers of what came to be known as Hispania, a mountainous region revealing hidden values to those who are bold enough to challenge and take them. Men lived on the skills they were able to master, the passion for their loves, their way of life, and their ability to form leagues with others for mutual gain. Passions, conflicts, opportunity, and luck forged the character of Rembert. He grew in skill, knowledge, and luck. His path of life directed his passions. His deep conflicts with an elite Merchant's heir drove him to fight to protect all he held dear using only his skills, his wits, and his allies to forge the force he needed, while his very life hung in the balance.