Thurstan Wildblood

Amid the dust and mayhem of the Third Crusade, a fearsome knight, Thurstan Wildblood, 'a man with a hole where his soul should be', is charged with returning a female hostage to Christendom, specifically to Canterbury.

Melinda of Jerusalem, they say, works miracles. She is touched by God and when she prays, astonishing cures are affected. The problem is that everyone seeks her as their prize. The crusaders captured her from an Islamic stronghold, and Sultan Saladin wants her back. Richard the Lionheart believes her 'liberation' to England will justify this war of annihilation, but the Knights Templar are adamant the only place for her is Rome. Meanwhile, there are others in the Christian army, sell-swords and freebooters, who dream of ransom should she fall into their mercenary hands.

Wildblood and his captive could not be facing more terrible odds, nor a more exhausting journey. And yet this indomitable knight has reasons of his own for undertaking the perilous quest. For he is certain he is damned. In the midst of carnage, he encountered a mysterious being – Belphagor, the 'Bishop of Hell' – who in return for a multitude already slain, granted him martial skills second to none.