The stone's legacy is inescapable. Those who inherit will be consumed by fire. Matthew de Rowenne thirsts to rise in the ranks of Norman nobility, but King Henry II seems intent on sending him to quell a rebellion in Scotland and commands he marry a Scottish noblewoman as a means to peace. But Matthew is cursed with a dreadful legacy and can never marry. Brigandine Lordsmith has masqueraded as a boy for as long as she can remember, obliged to work as her father's apprentice in the armory forge. She is drawn to the handsome Norman soldier who arrives in her homeland to impose English rule, but it's unlikely he'll be interested in the daughter of a tradesman. Sparks fly when Brig's true identity is revealed.