In the ruined heights of Conway and the ancient refuge of Pen-y-Dinas, war becomes a test of loyalty, honor, and the last claims of kinship. Harold receives a dying message from his brother Sweyn, whose repentance and final plea ask him to protect Sweyn's son, Haco, and restore the child to his native land. Grief-stricken, Harold resolves to try once more to recover the captive children abroad, even as the Welsh launch a savage night assault on the Saxon fort. Amid firelit chaos and hand-to-hand slaughter, the battle turns on the discipline of Harold's command, the ferocity of a Norman knight, and the desperate courage of the Welsh king, Gryffyth. When the attack fails, Harold chooses mercy over vengeance, sending a knight with terms of pardon to the starving stronghold. There, in a mountain fortress of ruins and broken ceremony, Gryffyth, Queen Aldyth, and their resentful princes endure the collapse of a kingdom. Pride, jealousy, and bitter love sharpen the final struggle, while bardic memory promises that even defeat may be remembered as heroic resistance. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
