Thirteenth-century Languedoc is burning. The Catholic Church has declared the Cathars enemies of God, and its Inquisitors leave prisons, pyres, and emptied villages in their wake.
Renato owes those men his life. Rescued as a nameless, mutilated child and raised beneath cathedral walls, he has become exactly what they intended: a swordsman sent where doctrine fails. His first campaign earns him a cross and rank, but it also forces him to see the innocent faces behind the label of heretic.
His doubts sharpen under Cyprian, a former crusader knight turned Cathar and coerced into teaching him to kill. When rebellion erupts and Church armies encircle the mountain stronghold of Montsegur, Renato is dragged toward a reckoning between the masters who made him and the outcasts they taught him to hate.
Every path demands betrayal. Every act of mercy carries a death sentence. Before the siege ends, Renato must choose which faith is worth killing for and whether a soul steeped in blood can still be saved.
Thirteenth-century Languedoc is burning. The Catholic Church has declared the Cathars enemies of God, and its Inquisitors leave prisons, pyres, and emptied villages in their wake.
Renato owes those men his life. Rescued as a nameless, mutilated child and raised beneath cathedral walls, he has become exactly what they intended: a swordsman sent where doctrine fails. His first campaign earns him a cross and rank, but it also forces him to see the innocent faces behind the label of heretic.
His doubts sharpen under Cyprian, a former crusader knight turned Cathar and coerced into teaching him to kill. When rebellion erupts and Church armies encircle the mountain stronghold of Montsegur, Renato is dragged toward a reckoning between the masters who made him and the outcasts they taught him to hate.
Every path demands betrayal. Every act of mercy carries a death sentence. Before the siege ends, Renato must choose which faith is worth killing for and whether a soul steeped in blood can still be saved.
During the early 13th century, the Catholic Papacy sought to eradicate all participators of a dualist Christian faith in the Languedoc. The City of Muret is in the control of Southern Crusaders as they are besieged by Nobles of the Occitan. A son remembers the final testament from a father he can no longer hear and a legend is born from the slaughter of the impious.
During the early 13th century, the Catholic Papacy sought to eradicate all participators of a dualist Christian faith in the Languedoc. The City of Muret is in the control of Southern Crusaders as they are besieged by Nobles of the Occitan. A son remembers the final testament from a father he can no longer hear and a legend is born from the slaughter of the impious.
A writer based out of New York City, Robert Black creates stories set in the contemporary or obscure parts of history. He has been a prolific underground short story writer and is preparing for the release of his debut novel Penance. His writing has just begun to fill the dark spaces of the internet.
A writer based out of New York City, Robert Black creates stories set in the contemporary or obscure parts of history. He has been a prolific underground short story writer and is preparing for the release of his debut novel Penance. His writing has just begun to fill the dark spaces of the internet.