Angus Donald

With Robert, Earl of Locksley - better known as Robin Hood - away fighting in the Holy Land, Marie-Anne, his beloved countess, is left in England attended by faithful Father Tuck. But old terrors resurface in the Locksley household when the one-time Sheriff of Nottingham, Sir Ralph Murdac, arrives unexpectedly with a terrible demand, and Tuck is forced to weigh his conscience against the call to arms.

1190 AD: Richard the Lionheart has launched his epic crusade to seize Jerusalem from the cruel Saracens. Marching with the vast royal army is Britain's most famous, most feared, most ferocious warrior: the Outlaw of Nottingham, the Earl of Locksley - Robin Hood himself.

With his band of loyal men at his side, Robin cuts a bloody swathe on the brutal journey east. Daring and dangerous, he can outwit and outlast any foe - but the crimson battlefields of the Holy Land are the ultimate proving ground. And within Robin's camp lurks a traitor - a stealthy enemy determined to slay Christendom's greatest outlaw before the trumpets fade.

Alan Dale, a loyal soldier in the service of The Earl of Locksley, also known as Robin Hood, is part of a vast Christian army seeking to recapture the Holy Land from the Saracen hordes. Wounded and vulnerable, Alan encounters another injured fighter, a shaven-headed Bavarian named Hanno. But will this thuggish killer prove to be Alan's friend - or his foe?

When he's caught stealing, young Alan Dale is forced to leave his family and go to live with a notorious band of outlaws in Sherwood Forest.

Their leader is the infamous Robin Hood. A tough, bloodthirsty warrior, Robin is more feared than any man in the county. And he becomes a mentor for Alan; with his fellow outlaws, Robin teaches Alan how to fight - and how to win.

But Robin is a ruthless man - and although he is Alan's protector, if Alan displeases him, he could also just as easily become his murderer...