The year is 1348, and the horrors of the Black Plague grip the entirety of Europe. English and French troops rage vicious battle across the continent at a time when human life is only as valuable as the ransom it can summon, and death, suffering, and war ravage the landscape. A beautiful English noblewoman, Matilda (Lena Heady), is devastated when her aging husband is taken hostage by French troops. When their nephew, Nicholas returns from the battlefield with a hostage of his own - the son of a powerful French lord - Matilda attempts to broker a prisoner exchange through the greedy local Bishop. After nearly killing his French hostage in a drunken rage, Nicholas is discovered dead, his body covered in horrifying boils, a victim of the merciless pestilence. But when the English authorities examine the injured hostage, they make horrifying discoveries of their own...ancient words blistered onto his back, and an inverted cross carved on his chest. It soon becomes clear that the Black Plague ravaging their country may be the least of their fears...