The year is 1578.

Totana 1578

Trade between Spain and the overseas territories is thriving. Books, liturgical materials, supplies and correspondence move through the Franciscan network between monasteries on both sides of the ocean, under the supervision of the Crown and the Church.

Yet certain shipments bound for the monastery of Santa Eulalia are causing growing unease among the ecclesiastical authorities. Reports question the nature of some of the goods and suggest that part of the cargo may be bypassing official channels.

Under pressure from different quarters of the Church, the Franciscan Order decides to act with the utmost discretion.

It sends Friar Jerónimo de Almorox to the monastery, ostensibly to research the Order’s musical heritage. His true mission is to discover what is happening at Santa Eulalia without disrupting life within its walls.

As his investigation deepens, he discovers that the monastery holds another, much older mystery, whose origins lead him to distant Tír Chonaill, territory of the O’Donnell dynasty. A discovery that will shape events and give new meaning to everything he thought he was investigating.