1293. North Wales. Ten years into English rule. Cecily would give anything to leave Caernarvon and go home. Gwenhwyfar would give anything to see all the English leave. Neither one is going to get her wish.

Behind the city walls, English burgesses govern with impunity. Outside the walls, the Welsh are subject to onerous restrictions and bear the burden of taxation, and the burgesses plan to keep it that way. Cecily can't be bothered with boring things like the steep new tax or the military draft that requires Welshmen to serve in the king's army overseas. She has her hands full trying to fit in with the town's privileged elite, and they don't want company.

Gwenhwyfar can't avoid these things. She counts herself lucky to get through one more day, and service in Cecily's house is just salt in the wound. But the Welsh are not as conquered as they seem, and the suffering in the countryside is rapidly turning to discontent. The murmurs of revolt may be Gwenhwyfar's only hope for survival – and the last thing Cecily ever hears.