Grant, K. M

The Blue Flame, sparked at the moment of Christ's death, is in danger of falling into the wrong hands yet again as northern enemies draw near, and as a new religious crusade begins, the love between lifelong friends Raimon, son of a Cathar weaver, and Yolanda, daughter of a Catholic count, is threatened.

When her Uncle Frank is executed for treason against England's King George in 1746 and his severed head is mounted on a pike for public viewing, daring Alice tries to reclaim the head for a proper burial, finding an unlikely ally in the soft-hearted executioner, while incurring the wrath of the royal guard.

Having returned to a politically unstable England after the Crusades, brothers Will and Gavin--with the help of the red horse Hosanna--attempt to rescue their friend Ellie who is being held prisoner by an enemy of King Richard I.

As the conflict in Languedoc, also called Occitan, intensifies, Raimon, having escaped the pyre, suppresses his longing to find his beloved Yolanda and, together with Parsifal, carries the Blue Flame to the mountains where it serves to rally loyal Occitanians to organize against the formidable French forces set to invade their beloved country.

In 1242 in the restive Languedoc region of France, Parsifal, having been charged as a child to guard an important religious relic, has lived in hiding for much of his life until he befriends a young couple on opposite sides of the escalating conflict between the Catholics and the Cathars.

Using principles of their shared Muslim faith to persuade him, an agent of the Old Man of the Mountain convinces Kamil to lead Will and Ellie into a trap, but Kamil repents and seeks a way to save his friends and redeem himself.

A special horse named Hosanna changes the lives of two English brothers and those around them as they fight with King Richard I against Saladin's armies during the Third Crusades.