Historical Vicente de Rocamora, the epitome of a young renaissance man in 17th century Spain, at the insistence of his family reluctantly enters the Dominican Order and is soon confessor to the king’s sister, the Infanta Doña María. Also an assistant to Philip IVs chief minister, Olivares. Vicente ascends through the ranks and before long finds himself poised to attain not only the ambitious dreams of the Rocamora family but also–if named Spain’s Inquisitor General–to bring about an end to the atrocities committed in the name of the blood purity laws. The resourceful young man must survive assassination attempts from a growing list of ruthless foes in both Church and court, solve a centuries-old riddle to quell rumors of his own impurity of blood, and above all, suppress his love for the seemingly unattainable Doña María only five years younger than he.