The Templar Knight

A knight in the Holy Land. A woman in the frozen north. A war that kept them apart . . .The second volume in the internationally bestselling trilogy begun with The Road to Jerusalem—the critically acclaimed epic destined to become a classic (Sharon Kay Penman)Exiled to the Holy Land for two decades, Arn Magnusson has risen in the ranks of the Knights Templar, serving as master of the order's Gaza fortress. Among the last bastion of God's holy warriors determined to save Jerusalem from the Muslims, Arn has cultivated a shrewd understanding of his enemy. Known as Al-Ghouti among the Saracens—Saladin and his Muslim followers—he is renowned as a man of compassion, strength, and faith. Yet neither time nor distance can lessen the pain of separation from his beloved Cecilia. Confined to a cloister back home in western Götaland, Arn's betrothed is a pawn in a war between clans vying for control of the crown. Yearning for him and their newborn son, who is being raised by relatives, Cecilia must also endure the cruelties of a vindictive abbess from a rival clan.When an accident of fate brings together Arn and Saladin, a friendship is forged that will alter the course of the Templar knight's life, and the history of Jerusalem itself. After the bloody Battle of Hattin, Arn finally becomes a free man. But the road home is long and treacherous, and he is uneasy about the fate that awaits him and uncertain whether his betrothed still lives.Broadening the scope of Arn's epic path to redemption, The Templar Knight continues the story of the founding of a nation—and of the warrior and the love that made it possible.