Angol
She's the hostage of an enemy knight... yet she's safer than she's ever been.
Lady Ayla of Blackfell has spent the last three years living in fear of her cruel husband, surviving through quiet, daring acts of resistance. But when a traitorous knight conquers the castle, Ayla finds herself the personal hostage of a warrior far deadlier than the one she married.
Niel doesn't care whether his father's rebellion succeeds, but he'll gladly use the war to exact his own revenge against the nobility. There's just one problem: right as he's about to ransom the castle's lady back to her lord, he sees the bruises covering her arm.
Now he refuses to let her go. With the Queen's army surrounding castle Blackfell, they're trapped together for a long, cold, winter siege.
Ayla doesn't want to return to her old life. But if Niel wins, his father's armies will destroy her country, and if he loses, he'll be put to the sword. If she can't forge a path to peace between Niel and the crown, she'll have to choose between her homeland and the knight who, despite his treachery, has begun to claim her heart.
