„Blood wedding“

The Churches of Byzantium and Rome detest each other, but they hate the pagans even more.

The year is 1226. For over two hundred years Orthodox Christian Russia bordered the pagan Baltic tribes. Attempts to christianize them were fruitless. They beat back invading armies and lately have grown powerful enough to strike deep into the Russian states. Churches and monasteries are not spared in their raids. A generation ago the Church of Rome, in the guise of German crusaders and warrior monks, arrived on the shores of the Baltic. There is enmity between Slav and Teuton, between Rome and Byzantium, but for conquest of pagan lands they are willing to unite in common cause. And Kuntas, a thane of Deltuva is staging a grand wedding... Junda, the proud daughter of Zybartas, has not set eyes on  her prospective bridegroom. That is  not unusual for the times, since weddings are seldom affairs of the heart. Invariably other, weightier matters are decisive. This particular wedding carries a higher burden of expectations then most. For Kuntas has offended the pagan gods. He brought a bride from the Russian land of Pskov. And now the wedding of his son to the daughter of a pagan priestess from Samogitia should help to set matters right...