The Armour and the Veil — Jeanne Lancour

Self-willed, independent, the ravishing Adrienne is renowned throughout Aquitaine for her grace and beauty. But a pilgrimage lies before her, a treacherous path of hardship leading to a dangerous land...where slave traders from the black kingdoms of southern Sahara barter for high-priced virgins to exchange in trade.

Adrienne is pursued by the man who loves her, a man who follows the sun-tortured trail across the blood-soaked desert...to a land so barren that gold is traded for salt...to the black kingdoms of Ghana where vengeful rulers wait...ready to wreak their vengeance with a bared scimitar.

Tested to the limits of her endurance, trusting in the power of an anguished love, Adrienne sacrifices everything for the man whose courage endures...only to discover, at last, the terribly truth about him...borne on the lips of a dying woman.