This novel tells the story of Lin and Dafydd, two slaves during the Dark Ages on the Orkneys, islands off the coast of Scotland. The majority of this tale takes place when Lin is twelve. It is a turbulent year for her. Lin and her brother Dafydd are slaves owned by Queen Morgause, they are servants at her court, and Lin is anything but accepting her status. This is a hard hitting story.

Morgause is the sister of Arthur, the Legendary Pendragon, and the mother of Gawain, Agravain, Gareth, Gaheris and Modred. Unfortunately Lin becomes embroiled in a test of wills with Modred, and is instantly at a major disadvantage due to their difference in status.

Modred determines to break her will and end her stubborn defiance. As far as Modred is concerned, she is his property (he even goes to the extent of branding her with a glowing iron to mark his ownership) and he wants her to show the proper level of subservience due to him as a Prince.

This is something that Lin is quite determined to avoid showing. And no matter what he does she defies him. She is subjected to beatings, whippings and humiliations, and her life is general made a living hell, indeed her life hangs in the balance on occasion.

Despite the fact that this is told as a memoir by Lin herself to her children many years after the fact, there is no loss of tension in the novel, no feeling that she must survive to tell the tale, so we know what's going to happen. This is wonderfully written.

The time depicted is grim, the lives of the slaves are hard to say the least, and prone to ending at the merest whim of the Queen or her sons.

But in the midst of all this there is a tale of dedicated siblings. The friendship and deep love between Lin and Dafydd is the core of this tale. Dafydd is the compliant slave, but he manages his compliance without losing his dignity. He is also the one person who is always there to pick up the pieces of his sister and to tend her wounds and nurse her back to full health.

This is an Arthurian tale, but it's not the typical tale of Knights of the Round Table and pulling swords from stones. The Arthurian mythos here is a backdrop, and well utilised to fill in the gaps behind the story and remove the need for endless pages of backstory.

This is not a normal fantasy story either, there are few elements associated with high fantasy and this is more akin to historical fiction than Tolkien. But it is a wonderful story and comes highly recommended.

Synopsis
Despite the collar marking her as a slave of Dunn na Carraice, young Lin is fiercely determined to retain her pride and keep her family intact. That dignity bears a price, for Lin has drawn the wrath of Modred, the youngest prince of Orkney. His single-minded quest to break strong-willed Lin—by any means necessary—nearly succeeds. Although Lin is accustomed to the death, disease, rape and famine that runs rampant in the slave hovel she calls home, it is when her beloved brother Dafydd is placed on the auction block that her warrior spirit becomes apparent to all who challenge her, and the shocking secret of her lineage is finally revealed.