Stewart is well versed in the Arthurian tradition, especially after having written three earlier novels on the subject. She adheres closely to the story lines of her sources—Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain (1136) and Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur (1485). Yet the retelling of the traditional plot is wholly her own, made vivid through the expert use of imagery which adds life to the often flat characters of the medieval romances. Particularly memorable, and echoing the brooding character of Mordred, are her descriptions of the stark beauty of the Orkney Islands: "The heather smelled sweet and heady, like the mead that would be made from the honey. To and fro, sometimes within a finger's breadth of his face, the bees hurtled like slingshots. The only other sound in the drowsy afternoon was the crying, remote below him, of the seabirds at their nests...