After the Norman Conquest, warrior-lord Garrick de Rocheford takes Thornmere Castle by force. The English barony falls. So does its defiant heiress, Lady Elara. To lock his claim in place, Garrick demands marriage. Elara refuses to yield, even as the vows are forced upon her.The stone walls that once protected her now feel like a cage. Garrick stole her home, her freedom, her future. She meets him with open hatred. Garrick, shaped by battle and ambition, sees a territory to control. Yet every confrontation tightens the space between them. Words cut. Tempers flare. Touch becomes a risk neither planned for.Outside the gates, rebellion gathers. Inside, betrayal waits. The castle breathes tension boots on stone, torches guttering at night. Elara's resolve strains as desire tangles with defiance, and Garrick's certainty begins to crack under her resistance.Elara must choose what she can live with: vengeance that burns everything down, or surrender to the man who conquered her heart as surely as her land.Can love survive when it's born from conquest?