Robyn Hood and his band of outlaws seek to raise the magical trine of the Old Religion against the tyranny of Church and Crown. Yet their forest kingdom roils with conflict, much of it from within... Marion has fled the Church to join her brother's band, but old shackles and new fears hamper her ability to take up her birthright as Maiden to the Wode... The outlaws hold to an uneasy truce with Gamelyn, also known as the defrocked Templar Guy of Gisbourne, once Robyn's fiercest enemy and now lover... A lone traveller is waylaid, and common occurrence quickly proves uncommon. Knight and Maiden, Archer and Men, all are conscripted to aid a Queen's-and ultimately a King's-ransom... For England lies divided, and beneath winter's chill lies struggle: for crown, for country, and for the Shire Wode's deepest magics.Marion is instrumental in rescuing England's Queen Mother-but she must take up her own crown within the Shire Wode and prove her rights-not only to Robin Hood's outlaws, but herself.