Robin rescues a strange knight from an ambush and earns the gratitude of the most powerful man in England, King Richard, recently returned imprisonment in Europe. Robin readily accepts an invitation to fight at the King's side in Normandy, but the relationship soon sours.

Prince John descends on Nottingham with a mysterious prisoner whose identity is closely guarded. Herne prophesises the death of King Richard and the existence of the strange prisoner. The outlaws devise a plot to free the captive not realising why or what impact his name will have on them all, especially Marion.

Joshua de Talmont is owed a great deal of money by the Sheriff, who uses the precedent of the Jewish massacre in York to stir up a riot under cover of which he intends to murder the Jewish merchant. The Sheriff and Gisburne pursue de Talmont deep into Sherwood, to be confronted not only by Robin Hood but the powers of a sacred book.