1. I, Lady Mildrith Rhys, was a gentlewoman in my own right. The only child of my father, I had inherited the fief of Capel-le-Ferne. I was married to Burke Hollis, eldest son and heir of Ealdorman Walter Hollis of Tunbridge. The elder Hollis had arranged the marriage soon after my father’s death. He was one of the richest English nobles and a close advisor to the king. My marriage meant that my strategic fief was now mer...

1. I had to keep reminding myself that I was Lady Mildrith Rhys of Capel-le-Ferne, heiress to one of the most strategic fiefs in England. And I was married to Burke Hollis, eldest son and heir of Ealdorman Walter Hollis of Tunbridge, one of the richest English nobles, a close advisor to the king. But just a few hours after my unconsummated marriage, Danish longships had been sighted from my ancient seat of Hill Fort in Ne...

It was hard to believe that I, Lady Mildrith Rhys of Capel-le-Ferne, had been married less than an hour previously. But what a difference an hour can make! Now my new husband, Burke Hollis, still in his wedding finery, leaned on a wooden post on the top of the stockade wall of Hill Fort, squinting his eyes against the sun glare. He followed the pointing finger of Leofric, his father’s bailiff. I could see that what he saw...