Passion and deception amid the turbulent court of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II. An honorable man: Malcolm de Monde, Lord of Warwick needs a wife. He reluctantly journeys to the royal court where his plan is simple: find a dutiful woman, gain the king’s approval for his choice and return to Warwick with his chosen lady wedded, bedded, and carrying his heir—all before winter. An independent woman: Judith of Kentworth, Royal Falconer and lady-in-waiting, is a woman from Malcolm’s past. Although she is a confidante of the queen, Judith’s beauty and vivacity attract the unwanted attentions of the king—and the woman who commands winged predators becomes prey herself. A simple plan that goes awry when Malcolm encounters Judith, once betrothed to his friend—and a woman who is nothing like the meek wife he seeks…but who may be exactly the type of woman he needs. An impossible choice: Malcolm offers Judith a chance to escape her predicament…But can she risk entangling her own personal white knight in a dangerous web of royal intrigue?