He entered her life in the midnight darkness of a storm, and in the shadow of her gentle father's death. A rebellion had left Clarence of Summerbourne dead --- his castle and his daughter, Claire, forfeit to the king's champion.

Renald de Lisle arrived at the castle gates as a warrior, took possession of Claire like a conqueror, and set her heart racing as her lover. Amid moonlight and velvet, she became his bride; atop tangled bedclothes she discovered passion. Then she learned Renald's terrible secret and vowed revenge against this man she had wed, this man she loved with all her heart ...

(Dark Champion: 4)