Book excerpt: As a templar, young Tristan is entrusted to protect the Holy Grail. But it is the Grail that protects him as he escapes the Holy LandÑand the evil Templar Sir HughÑand washes up, alone, on a foreign shore. Before long, TristanÕs adventures put him in danger, caught in the fighting between a heretical band of Cathars and the king of France, and still on the run from Sir Hugh. TristanÕs only chance to save the Grail is to make his way to England. But when he falls for Celia, the beautiful leader of the Cathars, his loyalty to the Grail wavers. And when Celia becomes endangered, Tristan is torn, forced to make a choiceÑand the wrong one could have disastrous consequences.