- In this follow-up to CAPTAIN ALATRISTE, the valiant Diego Alatriste returns for another adventure of swordplay, narrow escapes, and political intrigue within the corrupt Spanish court of the 1620s. Sword-for-hire Alatriste accepts a commission from Vicente de la Cruz to assist him and his sons in freeing his daughter, Elvira, from a convent where she is forced to submit to the attentions of an influential and lecherous priest, Fray Juan Coroado. De la Cruz must resort to this desperate measure because when he last attempted to see his daughter, Fray Juan threatened to reveal the stain on the family name - i.e., that de la Cruz"s great-grandfather was a Jew. Death awaits anyone caught breaking into a convent, as Alatriste well knows, but the true risks of the rescue attempt only become plain after he is faced with a shocking betrayal.