The heroine of the novel is Catherine of Valois, the daughter of the mad king of France, Charles VI. Her homeland is plunged into the abyss of civil war. Catherine's marriage to the victorious English king Henry V helps end the bloodshed. Widowed at a very young age, Queen Catherine finds herself in the grip of an illicit love for the Welsh squire Owen Tudor. They get married secretly. Their marriage is shrouded in inescapable love for each other and the fear of exposure. The secret becomes clear. Reckoning is coming. And again fate plunges the queen into a vicious circle of despair and hope...