Peter de Montfort, Lord of Beaudesert, is forced to betray the young Earl of Warwick into the hands of a hated guardian. The ensuing feud, which will last for two decades, places Peter's bastard sons in jeopardy and has repercussions for all the manors of Arden Forest.

Thirst for land is all-consuming in the England of the flamboyant Edward III. Dynastic marriage is taken for granted, but the sons and daughters of Warwickshire's heartland, John and Johanna, Richard and Rose, the devious Nicholas and the alluring, manipulative Orabella, fight to wrest personal happiness from the claws of family fealty.