The Summer of the Danes

In April 1144, Brother Cadfael leaves his monastery once more, this time in the company of Heledd, a young woman desperate to escape from an arranged marriage, and the youthful Brother Mark, who is representing the bishop on a matter of church diplomacy. Cadfael does not foresee trouble on their errand, but then the travellers become entangled in the conflict between Owain Gwynedd and his treacherous brother, Cadwaladr, who has allied himself with a Danish mercenary fleet in order to vanquish Owain.