Once Byzantium was the meeting place of East and West, the Holy City where subtle princes, rich merchants, and scheming priests built great monuments to the glory of God and their own ambition. But now, after centuries of power, the Imperial throne is in danger. The forces of Islam have captured Jerusalem, Christianity's holiest city, and all seems lost. From the West have come Jerusalem's saviors--the armies of Franks, Normans, and other Christians--who are willing to die to reclaim the city.

For Leo Dorcas, a man who was once a hairsbreadth away from the throne, the Crusaders represent hope and danger in equal measure. For his wife, Asherah, the beautiful and haunting Jewess, the barbarians are nothing but the murderers of her people. And for Binah, their bewitching daughter, they are but pawns in her own mysterious game.