Simon the Loyal has vowed never to love again. However, in order to bring peace to the Disputed Lands, he agrees to marry Ariane, an unwilling Norman heiress who has known only coldness from men, and has been betrayed by a man who almost broke her soul. And so she marries Simon with resistance...and fear. When Simon first sets his eyes on his bewtiching but reluctant bride, he knows that marriage in name alone would never be enough for him. He must teach Ariane passion, and she in turn must teach him trust, and together they must learn how to love, or else they will surely perish.