Troubadour

Elinor had to hurry before Hugo and the kitchen servants came back for the date sweetmeats and apples dipped in honey that were spread on a table. Swiftly she crossed the room and took one of Hugo's knives with a horn handle. It was an old one, thin in the blade from having been honed against the whetstone so often. And it was as sharp as any dagger... Elinor is in love with Bertran, a troubadour. But her parents will not hear of the match and Elinor is to be betrothed to an elderly nobleman. Facing the prospect of a loveless union, she flees her castle to find Bertran... Bertran has been the unlucky witness of a brutal murder for which the Pope will seek a terrible revenge. It is Bertran's duty to warn his fellow heretics that their lands are likely to be forfeit and that Southern France is on the eve of a terrible war... Elinor and Bertran are to meet again as they find themselves enveloped in a rising tide of bloodshed that threatens the very fabric of their society. An epic and richly embroidered tale of love and war from the much acclaimed Mary Hoffman.