A new historical series examining in detail the Crusades and the major changes that period of history wrought in the church from award-winning novelist Stephen R. Lawhead.

At the pronouncement of the Patriarch of Constantinople, the bride was carried from the cathedral on a silver bed draped with cloth of gold. Alone on that wide and glittering expanse, she looked frightened, cowed, and far younger than her thirteen years. Before her went a hundred black-robed monks chanting the Gloria, followed by the stiffly dignified metropolitan in his high-crowned, ruby and ivory-beaded red satin hat; the imposing prelate carried a large silver frame containing the Sacred Mandelion: the cloth bearing the indelible image of Christ, one of Byzantium's most highly valued treasures.

Veiled in delicate silver netting from the top of her golden wedding crown to the tips of her white-stockinged toes, the young woman's slender form shimmered in the light of ten thousand candles as she passed through the standing congregation, borne aloft on the shoulders of eight black Ethiopians in yellow tunics. The noble groom followed his new bride on a white horse, leading a dove-gray mare; both animals were caparisoned in scarlet edged with silver, and both wore white ostrich plumes attached to their silver headpieces.

From her place in the gallery high above the floor, Caitríona, mute with amazement, gazed upon the dazzling spectacle and knew she had never seen anything half so magnificent, and probably never would again. Everything, from the golden crowns to the purple clouds of incense drifting like the mists of Heaven, worked an enchantment of wealth and power that left her breathless.

When the wedding procession passed beneath the upper gallery of Ayia Sophia, all the onlookers rushed to the opposite side and leaned over the marble balustrade to see the towering iron-clad doors of the great church flung open wide and the newly married couple depart on billows of pink rose petals. The crowds which had been waiting outside the church since dawn roared with delight to see the royal party as it began the parade through the city to the Triconchos Palace where the official marriage banquet would be held amidst the marble columns of the Hall of Pearl.

"Well, dear heart," said Duncan to his daughter, "what did you think of that?"

"You were very brave to bring me here," Caitríona replied. "I have always admired that in you, Papa."

"Indulgent, perhaps. But why do you say brave?"

"Because," she said, her lips curving with sardonic glee, "now that I have seen how a lowly niece of the emperor is fêted on her wedding day, I shall accept nothing less on mine."

Duncan clucked his tongue, and said, "If I thought there was even the slightest chance you would deign to marry, I swear this cathedral would witness a ceremony far more grand than that which just took place."

"Bring on the king and golden bed," snipped Cait. "Let us get it done here and now."

"Is it too much for a father to hope the treasure of his life might find a little happiness in wedlock?"

"And ensure the continuance of the noble line, yes." She frowned dangerously. "Look at me, Papa, and tell me the truth: who in their right mind would want to marry me?"

"Any number of men, dear heart, given half a chance."

"Papa!"

"There are fairer women perhaps," allowed Duncan delicately. "But the beauty of the soul far outlasts the charms of the flesh."

"Show me a man enraptured with the beauty of the soul, and I will show you a eunuch."

Duncan sighed. His daughter's refusal to consider a suitable marriage had long been a thorn in his flesh. While Cait herself imagined it was her lack of loveliness which kept acceptable men at a distance, her father strongly suspected it was the quick, dagger-like edge of her tongue. Why, oh why, did she have to be so hardheaded and immovable?

Stephen R. Lawhead (www.stephenlawhead.com) is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. His works include Byzantium and the series The Pendragon Cycle, The Celtic Crusades, and The Song of Albion. Lawhead makes his home in Austria with his wife.

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