"Early one morning, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria is roused from bed with the news that her uncle William IV has died and she is now Queen of England. The men who run the country have doubts about whether this sheltered young woman, who stands less than five feet tall, can rule the greatest nation in the world. Surely she must rely on her mother and her venal advisor, Sir John Conroy, or her uncle, the Duke...

"1939. As the wife of the King George VI and the mother of the future queen, Elizabeth--"the queen mother"--Shows a warm, smiling face to the world. But it's no surprise that Hitler himself calls her the "Most Dangerous Woman in Europe." For behind that soft voice and kindly demeanor is a will of steel. Two years earlier, George was thrust onto the throne when his brother Edward abdicated, determined to marry his divorced, American mistress Mrs. Simpson....

Even archer for hire Gwyl may not be able to protect an 11-year-old redhead, newly named Penda, whom he found after a degenerate monk kidnaps her and leaves her for dead. As King Stephen and his cousin fight over the crown of England, Penda, Gwl, and their new hosts face King Stephen's winter siege...while a troubled monk vows to finish his darkest deeds.

A very small mouse of unknown origins runs away from school in the Royal Mews of Buckingham Palace shortly before the celebration of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, celebrating her sixty years on the British throne.