The Spanish Bride

Catherine of Aragon treasured the romantic ideal of the chivalric knight in shining armor. Believing she'd married one, she surrendered her fate to a monarch whose treatment of his wives would make him notorious...

Estrella de Montoya is maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon, the Spanish princess betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Traveling away from home for the first time, Estrella shares her mistress's vision of England as a land of chivalric knights and courtly love. Her heart flutters at the bright prospects before them, as the English rejoice at Catherine's arrival.

Decades later, Estrella has learned from bitter experience that poetic legends are not to be confused with real life. But Catherine, long married to Arthur's brother Henry, clings to her illusions--even when Henry, desperate for a male heir, seeks to set her aside for a younger woman. At great danger to herself, Estrella remains loyal to her lady, the true queen.

Through it all, Estrella remains uniquely positioned to witness Catherine's triumphs and tragedies as they both risk everything against a king to whom human life--let alone chivalry--is nothing compared to his own personal desires...