Precocious Beatrix has been the bane of Sir Rowan of Haeroc’s life since he was a lowly page among her father’s knights. Although she and both their parents might desire a match between them, Rowan cannot imagine himself tied to a woman who wears only blue, fish-embroidered tunics and ignores all the rules of proper behavior. Her husband would never know a moment’s rest. Besides, Rowan has more important matters to attend than choosing a wife.

Haeroc is once again under threat from the Byrs and Rowan decides the answer to peace is to return Aldrac of Byr; a man who has been the Haerocs’ prisoner since he was three years old, though few have met him, including Rowan. Instead, the jilted Beatrix delivers Rowan to the Byrs – not as their enemy, but as the long-lost Aldrac.

The Byrs may not be the barbarians he’d once thought, but neither are they his family. Rowan finds himself longing for the home he’s known all these years, except that home was a lie and so is his name. The only constant is the woman who betrayed him and, as his childhood prejudice falls away, he begins to see Beatrix for the beautiful, courageous woman she’s become; a woman who is quickly stealing his heart. A woman who has decided he might not be right for her after all.