The flyer reads, "One dark mulatto runaway, aged fourteen, well dressed and bright..."

Blanche thinks he has it good. He has risen above the field hands to a position helping run a printing press. Hes well fed, never physically mistreated, and he has taught himself to read, though he keeps the illicit skill a secret. Most importantly, he has been promised a chance at emancipation. Then, in a single bloody morning, his world is overturned, his master lies dead, and his widow has no intention of following through with her husbands promise to free him.

Blanche would never have considered...

Christendom yearns to follow a powerful desert prince who promises to rain down destruction on the Muslim Turks. The Jews of Rome whisper that David is the Messiah. But the food and beds are warm, the ladies plump and willing.