Book excerpt: 890 AD France. The last imperial heir of Charlemagne is dead, and every duke is proclaiming himself king. Egilolf, a former soldier, could care less. He needs to steal bones. A saint's bones. With the prospect of a large payout, he recruits the scribe Aristeus, a refugee fleeing Viking invasions. Perhaps he should have told his new companion the true reason he's pilfering saints. Together the thief and scribe must dodge bandits, Vikings, and warring lords-not to mention their own lies-only to find unearthing bones the easiest step. Yet Egilolf's fiercest battle is the one within. How can defending the weak be just, when God abandons him when he has to kill? And when Vikings become more than a faceless enemy to Aristeus, will he, like the ancient martyrs he's always extolling, risk death to convert them?