Twelfth-century England is an untamed land of medieval strongholds, forests, and feudalism. In a country where a battle over the throne leaves the nobles of the land free to fight amongst themselves for power, Rosamund Galleia, daughter of a lesser nobleman, is sent to become a lady-in-waiting at Duloe Castle. When battle with an unruly neighbor seems inevitable, the lord of the manor calls upon his most trusted man-at-arms to help defend his province. That man is Alexander Ringewar, a loyal knight and reticent heir to an earldom.

Rosamund feels a powerful attraction to Alexander but struggles against her feelings. In a world of arranged marriages and political unions, a girl of minor nobility should not dream of a future with such a high-ranking noble, especially one who is uncompromisingly wedded to his chivalric duty.