On the way home to his castle in Wales, one of Geoffrey de Mappestone's knights is killed during an ambush. The knight had claimed to be carrying an important message for the King, but when Geoffrey tries to deliver it, he is faced with the King's orders to spy on his own family to ferret out a t...
Sir Geoffrey de Mappestone, a brave knight of the Crusades, returns from a desert patrol and finds a fellow soldier murdered in a baker's bedchamber. But this is not the first suspicious death in the city -- other knights, and even monks -- have been killed, and Sir Geoffrey is certain that the m...
She was taking an age to die, and while Oakley was still hopeful that she might remember something useful, I thought he was mad. Still, I didn’t mind when he asked me to sit with her, in case she woke again. He walked with me to the hospital, which was easier than driving in Bristol’s traffic, be...
The setting sun was a glowing amber ball in a haze of blue sky and salmon-tinged clouds, which presaged well for the morning. A blackbird sang somewhere in the forest, its voice a clear, clean trill above the lower murmur of the river, and the air was rich with the scent of damp earth and fallen ...
When the Bishop saw Geoffrey, he broke into a rare smile and jumped to his feet, grasping the knight by the shoulders. Giffard was tall and lean, with a face made for the sober business of religion. Geoffrey had never heard him laugh, although he was occasionally ecstatic when he prayed. He wore ...
Hugh looked well-rested and healthy, but claimed a headache. Geoffrey suspected it had more to do with the fact that it was his turn to supervise the repairs on the city walls, than with the blow on the head the previous night, for it had not affected his sword practice with Roger. The knights lo...
The other guests were considered a nuisance: they were of no help with the preparations, but still needed to be fed. Magnus was particularly bothersome, complaining vociferously that no such preparations had been made for him. Bale went to where a scanty breakfast of bread and unripe apples had b...