The Taint of Blood and Heredity

The book suggests a demon-tainted or inhuman lineage in the Plantagenet bloodline, inherited from figures like Manuel of Poictesme, which causes suffering for their wives and England, and culminates in the bloodline's extinction.

Maudelain speaks of his 'accursed race' and the 'devil's blood' from Oriander, suggesting an inherited flaw that drives his violent end.

The epilogue explicitly discusses the demon-tainted blood inherited from Manuel of Poictesme or Foulques Plantagenet's demon wife, and the suffering it caused to wives, heirs, and England.