Thomas Wingfield begins by explaining why he tells his tale, recounting his lineage and the tragic murder of his mother that drives him to swear vengeance against the Spaniard Andrés de Fonseca. Love and farewell shape his youth, and though he gains wealth, he cannot escape the shadow of betrayal and loss. The death of Isabella de Siguenza and the wreck of the carrack cast him across the ocean, where he comes ashore in a new and perilous world. Before the Stone of Sacrifice he confronts a civilization both magnificent and brutal, realizing that his private oath now unfolds within the vast drama of conquest. The first part establishes how personal revenge is drawn into the sweeping clash between empires.
