Ilona knew what it meant to be alone. Knew how it felt to be hungry, mistreated, defenseless.

But now Ilona was going home. All the hardships of exile were behind her. She was going back to Dabrozka, the tiny kingdom whose throne would someday be hers. She was returning triumphant--the beloved Princess of a proud and independent people who needed her desperately.

Ilona was Dabrozka's last hope for salvation. She alone could save her subjects from donimation if she married a man who despised her. A man with whom Ilona was already falling wildly in love.