A shrewd servant. A penniless young woodcutter. A priceless stolen treasure.

Melisende joins a crusade, her head full of glory and victory, only to flee from her first battle. Forced to hide as a housemaid while the enemy army occupies the city she'd hoped to save, she despairs of ever finding her way home.

Mithra plans to settle down with the girl of his dreams, but when the war spills into his city, all dreams of the future are shattered. When he finds a Crusader maiden in the woods and they stumble across a priceless treasure, he thinks his luck might have turned...until he discovers the penalty of stealing from the Forty Thieves.

Can Melisende and Mithra save his family from the Forty Thieves?