El ejército ciego

The year is 1014. After defeating the Bulgarians at the Battle of Klyuch, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II orders the eyes of fifteen thousand soldiers of the enemy army to be gouged out, leaving one in every hundred men blind in one eye to guide the blind men back home. For weeks, a column of ragged soldiers gropes its way along the long road to the Bulgarian capital, where they are received by Tsar Samuel. Faced with the terrible sight of his humiliated men, he collapses, overcome with grief. He is succeeded on the throne by his son Gavril, heir to a threatened empire that he must defend by using cunning to raise the morale of the people after their latest defeat. Outside the city walls, enemies lurk, while in the city streets, the soldiers try to resume their lives. Some hide and remain silent; some discover that their hands can replace sight; some fear appearing monstrous; and there are those who make a good profit selling beautiful ceramic beads that resemble eyes. And among them all there is a blind scribe who, unable to copy what has already been written, pours onto the parchment a story that grows within him: that of the fifteen thousand blind men and their unexpected revenge.