The prequel The Hallowed Hunt (2005) takes place in the Weald to the south of Chalion and two to three hundred years earlier.

After nearly two years as a galley slave, he returns to a regional court where he once resided and is hired as tutor to Iselle (second in line for the throne of Chalion after her brother Teidez) and her handmaid Betriz, to whom he is attracted.

Teidez and Iselle accept an invitation to stay at the capital, accompanied by Betriz, Cazaril, and other domestics.

There Cazaril encounters his betrayer, Dondo, whose brother Martou is chancellor to the ailing monarch Orico.

With the help of Umegat, another saint, he learns that the royal family of Chalion is under a generation-old curse, and that Orico is only sustained through the cleansing magic of the sacred animals in the menagerie.

Deceived by Dondo, Teidez destroys the menagerie and injures Umegat, but a wound he sustains in the process becomes infected and proves fatal.

Orico collapses, leaving Iselle soon to ascend the throne, but the real power at court is wielded by Martou, who spreads rumors that she is unstable like her mother.

He speaks to Ista on the way, who tells him of a prophecy that the curse can be broken by a man "willing to lay down his life three times for the House of Chalion."

The states of Chalion, Ibra, and Brajar are fictional counterparts of Castile and León, Aragon, and Portugal, respectively.