The time is the twelfth century in England. Carys is a rope dancer who had once been part of a successful troupe of traveling players. While they were welcomed because of the entertainment they provided, they are also outcasts because they do not have a master.
When the story opens the troupe has been disbanded. Carys' latest protector has just been killed. Carys herself is threatened with rape and murder by the men at arms of the lord in whose hall she was dancing and she is forced to use all of her wits to escape.
Alone and destitute, she is found by two men traveling together-- Telor, a minstrel, and Deri, a dwarf. As a minstrel who entertains in lordly halls, Tedor, the son of a respectable burgher, is of higher social status than Carys or Deri although Deri was once a respectable settled man himself before misfortune reft him of wife and home. Tedor is on his way to visit his old teacher, the Welsh bard Eunion.
But events of this turbulent time have overtaken the manor where Eunion was living under the protection of an amiable lord, and Telor, Carys and Deri become involved in a lively adventure where their lives are at stake.
Gellis does her usual excellent job of drawing the reader into her medieval world. The afterword is definitely worth reading because she lays out there some of her philosophy about writing historical novels. This book is one of her best.
