The bloody civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud has swept through the country towards the rural security of Brother Cadfael's monastery. The citizens of Worcester have fled, among them two orphaned children of noble stock, together with their tutor, a young nun. Cadfael sets off to lead the search for the missing trio, through the rugged wastes of snowbound Shropshire, following an elusive trail across a lawless land, until the discovery of the body of a young woman, frozen beneath the ice, adds a chilling new dimension to their journey.