Father Martin and Tom Perrill rape and murder the girl, and Hook's guilt at failing to save her haunts him throughout the story.

During a failed attack, Hook kills Robert Perrill by thrusting a crossbow bolt through the man's eye.

Henry, against the advice of his vassal lords, then decides to march his ragged army to Calais along the coast of France as a demonstration of his sovereignty (and as an insult to the French king).

The Hook–Perrill feud reignites during the march as Tom Perrill frames Hook's brother Michael for stealing a religious pyx.

Torrential rain soaks the newly ploughed land, turning it into a treacherous morass, especially for the French knights in full plate armour.

The English are ordered by Henry to hammer sharpened stakes into the ground, forming an impenetrable wall to repel the French cavalry.

The first attack is driven back by the English as they retreat behind the stakes, so that the French horses either bolt in terror or are impaled upon the deadly spikes.

The battle is also portrayed from the opposite side via the seigneur de Lanferelle, who hopes to capture valuable prisoners, including his rival and Hook's lord, Cornewaille.

The English repel the second attack through a combination of their remaining arrows and the surprising skill of the archers in hand-to-hand combat.

The book's publisher and retailer reported that it exceeded sales expectations and reached a broader readership than his previous bestsellers.