Janna has joined a band of pilgrims en route to Oxeneford. Along the journey she finds a dead man carrying a letter bearing the seal of Henry, Bishop of Winchester, now a supporter of the Empress Matilda. She gives it to Bernard—the leader of the pilgrims—who swears Janna to secrecy and undertakes to deliver the letter to the empress in Oxeneford, where she is making preparations to claim the crown. Meanwhile, Janna sets off to Ambresberie—an abbey where her mother previously worked—in hopes that it will hold the secrets about her father she still seeks. Now, with the empress routed by the queen and her mercenary army and evidence of Bishop Henry's treachery in Janna's own hand, what does the future hold for the empress and her supporters?