Balefire

In the devastation following the Battle of Flodden in 1513, Simon Armstrong, a young Scottish Border laird, lies wounded among the remains of the defeated army. An English knight, Abel Ridley, is persuaded to spare him only by the promise of an enormous ransom. The bargain preserves Simon’s life, but it also makes him a valuable captive at a time when the frontier between England and Scotland is governed as much by private feud, raiding and reprisal as by royal authority.

Simon’s danger increases when he falls into the hands of Ridley’s master, the worldly and ruthless Prior of Hexham. Escape, ransom and loyalty become inseparable as the young laird is forced to judge enemies who may behave honourably and countrymen who may not. Moving through a Borderland scarred by Flodden and renewed warfare, the novel tests whether courage and personal integrity can survive when family obligation, national allegiance and the instinct for self-preservation pull in opposing directions.