Having returned from captivity, Richard the Lionheart discovers that his state is on the verge of collapse: Philip Capet is taking the French provinces of the Plantagenets one after another, Prince John and his associates are plotting against their brother and are always ready to stick a dagger in the back. But Richard has a more dangerous enemy - his own inner demons. In a ruthless war at the last frontier, everything is at stake and one wrong step can dramatically change the course of European history. The book continues the events described in the novel “Trap for the Crusader” and completes Sharon Kay Penman’s epic cycle about the formation and rise of the Plantagenet power, about the destinies its creators - Henry II, Alienora of Aquitaine and their children. Published in Russian for the first time. A map from the paper version has been added to the book.