The Christian armies of Spain are on the rise and are taking back the land controlled by the Taifa States. All seems well and the star that is Rodrigo de Vivar continues to rise. All of this ends when King Fernando dies, and his heirs begin a self-destructive civil war. Only the knight respected by both Christian and Muslim alike, the man known as El Campeador can unite the troubled land of Spain.
We see the troubles of Spain through the eyes of the man who trained Rodrigo, William Redbeard, and it is through him that we see the effect the civil war has on the ordinary people. When King Sancho is murdered then all hope seems to disappear and Rodrigo and Will Redbeard have to choose which side they are on.
This is the second book in the series about El Cid. I have researched the actual story and not the Charlton Heston epic. This novel covers the murder of King Sancho which, in the film, has El Cid demanding that King Alfonso swears on a bible that he had nothing to do with the murder. My research leads me to believe that this is apocryphal. I discovered an even more complicated plot which involved El Cid being sent to a Moorish taifa and, to use modern parlance, set up. I will not have any spoilers but the end of the novel sets up book 3!
Book 3 will be the last in the series. El Cid’s death is well documented.
