The Fool's Tale — Nicole Galland

Wales, 1198. A time of treachery, passion, and uncertainty. King Maelgwyn ap Cadwallon, known as Noble, struggles to protect his small kingdom from foes outside and inside his borders. Pressured into a marriage of politi cal convenience, he takes as his bride the young, headstrong Isabel Mortimer niece of his powerful English nemesis.

Through strength of character, Isabel wins her husband's grudging respect but finds the Welsh court backward and barbaric, and is soon engaged in z battle of wills against Gwirion, the king's oldest, oddest, and most trustee friend. Before long, however, Gwirion and Isabel's mutual animosity is abruptly transformed, and the king finds himself as threatened by loved one as by the enemies who menace his crown.