In Mortal Sin, Silje's granddaughter, Cecilie, jeopardises her role as governess at the court of King Christian IV when she becomes pregnant - by a priest! But to save herself and her new husband, she marries one of the king's closest advisers Marquis Alexander Paladin, who faces disgrace because of his homosexual activity and they declare her child their own. Against the background of the Thirty Years War the drama of their tortured marriage forms the core of this book.