Passion and deception amid the shadowy 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 turbulent 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 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, she's a woman 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?