A mage-knight, a lost boy – and treachery
Orlando of Troyes, fight-master of knights' sons in Carcassonne, awaits a promised reward from Simon de Montfort for his loyalty in the crusade against Cathar heretics. Impoverished and stranded in Carcassonne, Orlando believes in a knight's duty, loyalty, and honor. Yet instead of a reward, Simon sends Orlando to plague local villagers with unfair taxes and riotous attacks, a quest that serves only Simon's over-sized ambitions.

Soon Orlando is fighting a masked magical knight while finding new betrayals down every alley. Then strangers arrive in Carcassonne who beguile him with tales of his ancestors' heroics—and ask him to undertake a greater test of loyalty and honor than he could ever imagine. There's a lost boy, they say, and Orlando must rescue him or they all risk dishonor and death.

Traitor, a standalone story, joins the series of interrelated 13th century adventure tales, Legends of Valeros.