Bride of the Spear

Proper heirs to King Arthur, the band of Cumbrians and Lothians, Angles and Picts here portrayed plunder, rape and murder their way through Dark Ages England. Of them all, only Taniu, neglected daughter of King Loth, raped as a child by her Pictish stepmother's spearman, preserves her dignity and decency. While out gathering herbs, she saves a huntsman from the tusks of a boar, unaware that he is Prince Owain of Cumbria. The two promise to meet in the spring, but when the awaited time comes and the King of Cumbria applies to Loth for the hand of his daughter, Taniu refuses, never connecting huntsman and prince. She is banished to a workman's hut, where Owain finds her and, overcome by passion, rapes her, discovers that she is not a virgin, and tosses her away in disgust. Taniu's lot is hard during the ensuing years, until she saves Owain's life for the second time and joins it with her own. Taniu is a charming and credible heroine and Owain the very model of a fighting prince. Craggy settings, bloody skirmishes and jealous feuds echo with the authenticity that won awards for Queen of the Lightning and Ghost in the Sunlight. (September)