Ela Countess of Salisbury married William Longspee when she was 9. In 1196 that was not shocking. Her father was dead. She was responsible for the governance of Wiltshire. Who else could step in to help but a husband selected by King Richard? He selected his bastard half-brother, an honorable man who needed a title and income of his own. Happily for William and Ela, they fell in love. Eight children and twenty-nine years later, William was dead, murdered by the new king's regent, the man who stood for justice in England. How could Ela protect her children from a man like that? When a woman is chattel, sold to the highest bidder, what are her choices? And yet a woman of power and intelligence can find another way. She can make alliances of her own. She can outwit her enemies if she is bold, if she moves very quickly.

About the Author
Dorothy Abrams lives and writes in upstate New York. She met Ela when she visited Salisbury Cathedral with her partner Eric Reynolds in 2010. Ever a feminist activist, Dorothy worked for the New York State Division of Human Rights as an investigator and the Cayuga Seneca Action Program (CSAP) as an advocate for women and low income rural families. She is co-founder of three organizations: the Sexual Assault Advocacy Resource (SAVAR) in Auburn NY, the battered women shelter, a component of CSAP in the same city, and the Web PATH Center, a Goddess church and teaching center in Lyons NY.
Dorothy's recent nonfiction title, Identity and the Quartered Circle: Studiess in Applied Wicca will be released by Moon Books in 2013. Her essay "Moveren the Sea Queen" appears in Sorita d'Este's anthology Faerie Queens to be released by Avalonia in 2013. She has been published in Sage Woman and PagaNetwork News. Her current project is The Witches of Fawsetwood, a historical fantasy novel about medieval England.