One year after Ferns burned and her young brother was taken hostage, Princess Aoife of Leinster must become a weapon—or watch her family lose Ireland forever.
Her father, Diarmuit MacMurrough, has summoned Norman warlords to reclaim his kingdom, offering land, power, and his own blood as the price. As hostages are exchanged and foreign knights carve up Gaelic lands, Aoife is bartered as a bride, expected to endure while men decide the fate of Ireland.
They see a bargaining chip. She intends to be something far more dangerous.
Riding at her father’s side, Aoife learns to confront Irish enemies and Norman “allies” alike, wielding honour, pride, and ambition as ruthlessly as any blade. When a young Norman knight risks everything to protect her, she must decide whether he is ally, pawn—or another threat in a land where loyalty shifts as quickly as the tide.
Inspired by true events, The Bitter Chalice plunges readers into the opening storm of the Norman invasion of Ireland—burned towns, ambushes, hostage exchanges and hard-fought battles where crowns, lands and lives are all at stake.
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