It is 1170, a tumultuous time for the people of Wales, England and Ireland. Raymond de Carew is in love, but the woman he desires is an earl’s daughter and so far above his station that he has no hope of ever winning her. However, Raymond’s lord, Strongbow, has a mission for him; one that, if it succeeds, will put an Irish king back on his throne and prove Raymond worthy. For in Norman society, a man can rise as high as his skill with a sword can take him. With only a hundred men at his side, Raymond will cross the ocean ahead of his mercenary lord’s invasion of unconquered Ireland. There, he will face the full might of the Viking city of Waterford … and either his deeds will become legend or he will be trampled into dust.