Bernon of Normandy, known as the Black Bear, weds a woman by proxy to gains a stronghold on the English East coast at The Duke of Normandy's prompting before the Norman invasion. Barwolf of Strangclyf wants to prove herself worthy of her new husband as he claims Strangclyf. After a life of drudgery under a father who despised her, she knows submission, but lacks manners. As they battle treachery in William's court and later at Strangclyf, she proves everything he believed about the evil of women may not be true and he gives her hope for a future without domestic violence. Can the pair actually find love before a traitor destroys their lives?