The treachery of friends; the nobility of enemies; the steadfast devotion of an impossible love; this romance of the days of chivalry has all the power that only Scott could bring to his favorite subject, the Crusaders.
King Richard lies mortally ill in the Christian camp. Sir Kenneth, carrying terms for an honorable peace with the Saracens, has fallen in with one of their knights, Ilderim.
Richard is near to death. While waiting at Engaddi for Ilderim, who has gone to fetch a Saracen physician he claims can cure the king, Kenneth is reunited with the Lady Edith.
While waiting for the Talisman's elixir to cure King Richard, El Hakim reveals to Kenneth that the other princes have offered Saladin a Christian bride of royal blood. Could it be Edith?
Set to guard Richard's standard, Kenneth, the victim of a hoax, deserts his post and the standard is stolen. Condemned to death, he is saved by the intervention of El Hakim and taken as a slave to the Saracen camp.
Kenneth has been taken to Saladin as a bond slave. Edith is determined to find a way to save him.
King Richard is surprised to receive a gift from Saladin, a slave leading the hound Roswal. Outside the king's tent, the murderous Charegite awaits his opportunity.
Edith has still not returned to the Christian camp, where King Richard has challenged the treacherous Montserrat.
Kenneth, revealed as the natural son of the King of Scotland, is to fight Montserrat as the champion of King Richard.