Gerait's Daughter
Eighteen-year-old Magheen's dark eyes sparked with scornful fire as she surveyed Black James Butler and his cousin, Sir Piers. Magheen despised the Butlers and their scheming ways. The Butlers and the Fitzgeralds had been sworn enemies for generations.

The arrogant Black James wore an air of secret pleasure, so the message he carried was surely an unpleasant one. What else could give a surly Butler such a self-satisfied smirk?

In his maddening drawl, Sir James revealed the purpose of his visit: `To seal the alliance between our families, His Majesty commands that Sir Piers marry one of your daughters.'

To refuse was treason.