The Emperor's Elephant

When the greatest ruler of the Western world decides to establish diplomatic relations with a powerful ruler of the East, he makes a truly royal gesture. Charlemagne decides to send Harun al-Rashid as a gift the most astonishing animals that can be found in his domains: a huge aurochs, white bears, and—an incredible rarity of rarities—the legendary unicorn. Of course, all these creatures must first be obtained, but the king has faithful servants for that. The honor of hunting down these rare beasts and delivering them across half the world—from Aachen to Baghdad—falls to Sigwulf, the Saxon prince without a kingdom…