The Fifth Knight

The Fifth Knight trilogy follows the fictional mercenary Sir Benedict Palmer and the nun Theodosia through crises of Henry II’s reign. The opening novel inserts Palmer into the murder of Thomas Becket as an imagined fifth knight who turns against Reginald FitzUrse and the other attackers after Theodosia is abducted. Their escape establishes both a marriage and an uneasy relationship with the king whose words helped unleash the violence.

The Blood of the Fifth Knight revisits the royal family conflict after Eleanor of Aquitaine’s rebellion, when Palmer is asked to stop an assassination conspiracy. The Lord of Ireland then sends Palmer and Theodosia into Prince John’s failed expedition of 1185. Across the trilogy, documented political events are reworked through secret missions, murder plots and the recurring question of whether loyalty to the crown can be separated from loyalty to justice and family.