MAIN PLAYERS
HENRY II, King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, son of Geoffrey the Handsome, Duke of Normandy (deceased)
ELEANOR, Queen of England, former Queen of France, Duchess of Aquitaine, wife of Henry
EMPRESS MATILDA, Henry’s mother, widow of the Emperor of Germany, widow of Geoffrey, Duke of Normandy
LOUIS VII, King of France, Eleanor’s ex-husband
KING STEPHEN of England, ‘The Usurper’ (deceased)
PRINCE EUSTACE, Crown Prince of England (deceased)
THEOBALD, Archbishop of Canterbury
THOMAS OF LONDON, also known as Thomas Becket, Archdeacon of Canterbury
RICHER DE L’AIGLE, a degenerate baron
HENRY BLOIS, Bishop of Winchester, brother of King Stephen
WILLIAM DE WARENNE, Earl of Surrey, son of King Stephen
ISABEL, Countess of Surrey, wife of William de Warenne
GILBERT FOLIOT, Bishop of Hereford
GUILLAUME, Henry’s brother, illegitimate son of Geoffrey and his concubine Isabella
ROBERT DE BEAUMONT, Earl of Leicester, royal justiciar
RICHARD DE LUCY, royal justiciar, a baron
ERASMUS, Greek philosopher and physician
AELBAD, alias Richard, scribe for Thomas of London, previous linguist and code-breaker for Prince Eustace
DOUGLAS, Scottish highland warrior and a Merlin (shaman)
WALTER CLIFFORD, an upstart castellan
MARGARET CLIFFORD, his wife
ROSAMUND (JOAN), daughter of the Cliffords
EARL RICHARD DE CLARE, also known as Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke
EVELINE DE CLARE, his sister
PRINCE OWAIN, most powerful of the Welsh leaders
PRINCE ARIANWYN, Prince Owain’s son
PRINCE CADWALADR, Prince Owain’s brother
PRINCESS ALAW, Prince Cadwaladr’s daughter, beloved of Guillaume
HENRY OF ESSEX, hereditary bearer of the royal standard
HODIERNA, wet nurse to Prince Richard, his ‘second mother’
ORIANNE, Queen Eleanor’s personal maid
BERNARD VENTATOUR, Aquitaine troubador
BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, mystic, builder of Chartres Cathedral (deceased)
THE ROYAL CHILDREN
GEOFFREY, Henry’s eldest child, an illegitimate son from his ‘first wife’ Rachel
WILLIAM, Eleanor’s first-born son
CROWN PRINCE HENRY
PRINCESS MATILDA
PRINCE RICHARD
PRINCE GEOFFREY
NATIONAL GUARDIANS IN THE SPIRIT WORLD
SAINT DENIS, Guardian of France
SAINT GEORGE, Guardian of England