Simon is the bastard son of a local lord. When he is 14, he walks miles to get to his father's rival, Fulk of Montlice, and offers him his service. Within a few short years, he is knighted by the king and then, after foiling a plot, given lands of his own. Through grim determination, he becomes one of the foremost men in fifteenth century England. But then he goes to war in France, and he meets his match--the beautiful and fearless Lady Margaret of Belremy. When two stubborn minds meet, who will gain supremacy? (Simon, of course--Margaret's just a lady! It's only a matter of time before she's weeping and fainting and stuttering with her overpowering lurrrrve.)Simon is the manliest man who ever manned. Every single character thinks he is the awesomest dude who ever drew breath, and says so every time they're present. At first the ridiculousness of it annoyed me, but by the end I was able to put aside my expectations of how actual humans behave and just got into the story.