The year is 1095 - England. Brandon St. Denis has been imprisoned in the High Tower for 2 years for killing the castle lord's son justly. Brandon is meant to die a slow death there as punishment. His only spark of life is a young woman who stands at the edge of the woods daily, meeting his eye and making the sign of the cross. When a twist of fate occurs and Brandon escapes, he searches for this young woman who pulls at his soul, only to find that she has disappeared, captured by the same band of Saxon brigands who accidentally set him free. He begins a quest to find her. His search takes him across continents and into the Crusades, where he faces battles and yearns for his soul's completion, encountering Saxons, Vikings and those willing to die for the gold and the glory to be had in the Byzantine region, before finally encountering those who took her and "own" her.