England in the fourteenth century a land of poverty and opulence, prayer and plaguewitchcraft and necromancy.As a child, Elisha witnessed the burning of a witch outside of London, and saw her transformed into an angel at the moment of her death, though all around him denied this vision. He swore that the next time he might have the chance to bind an angels wounds, he would be ready. And so he became a barber surgeon, at the lowest ranks of the medical profession, following the only healers path available to a peasants son.Elisha Barber is good at his work, but skill alone cannot protect him. In a single catastrophic day, Elishas attempt to deliver his brothers child leaves his family ruined, and Elisha himself accused of murder. Then a haughty physician offers him a way out come serve as a battle surgeon in an unjust war.
