Love united them. Destiny drove them apart. When Avicia, a Norman noblewoman, makes a careless but costly mistake with a prized falcon, the brutal punishment nearly claims her life. Her Saxon lover, Edric of Newington, witnesses her ordeal but cannot share her fate. Another destiny awaits him in England, and the prospect of a loveless marriage. Swept away in the arms of another, Avicia enters the treacherous court of Duke William of Normandy. Through the years, Edric and Avicia reunite in a timeless, forbidden love, but a bitter rivalry for the English throne divides them. In a world forever altered in the aftermath of Hastings, hope rises and the chance to love again. Snippet: Edric knew the moment Avicia entered the room. Sensation crept up his spine. He watched as she walked from the recesses of the king’s hall, with one of the Frenchmen at her side, toward a man and woman. He recognized the black-haired man who had cradled her after she fainted. He could not understand why she might be in England, instead of Flanders. Her appearance remained the same after three years. The shortened sleeves of her pale blue and yellow garment showed a white cloth underneath. Yellow linen wound about her waist. His eyes lingered on her belly, slightly thickened. His gaze darted to the man beside her, whose hand cradled, even caressed her elbow. She and the woman beside her engaged in an animated conversation. Then she rose on her tiptoes and whispered to the black-haired man. He confirmed their intimacy when he patted her belly. She belonged to him and carried his child.
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