Winter of Solace by Kathryn Le Veque

Caius d’Avignon, the knight known as The Britannia Viper, finds himself on the opposite side of William Marshal… and the Executioner Knights are caught in the middle…

Welcome to another Executioner Knights’ tale!

When Caius d’Avignon is sent north at the request of a cousin of William Marshal to help in a dispute between neighbors, Caius couldn’t have imagined how his life would change.

Caius is one of the Marshal’s premier knights, a man who served in The Levant with many of the Marshal’s agents, but he had one distinct difference – he’d been branded The Britannia Viper by the Saracen commanders for his hard strike. There is no one fiercer in battle. Therefore, William Marshal has great confidence that Caius will solve the situation – if not by diplomacy, then by the sword.
But Caius is caught off-guard by the situation when he arrives. The Marshal’s cousin is an unscrupulous and cruel man who has all but decimated his neighbors and demands they be destroyed. When Caius goes to speak to the neighbors to demand their unconditional surrender, the first thing he sees is a woman of astounding beauty.

Emelisse de Thorington is that woman.

Caius is drawn into the feud whether or not he wants to be. He comes to discover that the Marshal’s cousin is wicked and has harassed a noble family for years while telling William Marshal something quite different. The man is a thief and a liar.
But Caius can’t tell the Marshal that without jeopardizing his relationship with the man. There’s also the not-so-small fact that he’s fallen in love with the strong but battered Emelisse.

Will the career knight choose love over his career?