Culdan is negotiating a treaty in Velt when madness and violence force him into claiming his lover Meretta by force.  Although they have been secretly trysting for months, conquest is the only way in which the Magden Warlord, Murvan, will accept their mating.  The Warlord’s men are fast in pursuit; Culdan’s time is limited as he works on planting his heir inside his woman.  Although the entire enterprise is distasteful to him as a Lengar, the threat of war and retaliation reduce their choices to the capture and imprisonment of the woman he adores.

It’s always a pleasure to read the historical tales of Kegin.  Some of the laws and traditions during the times of the warlords were brutal; especially, the Magden law of conquest where a potential bride could be seized and ravished against her will until she conceived.  All properties could then be claimed by the conqueror.  Culdan turns the tables on Murvan by using this barbaric custom to win Meretta without full blown bloodshed between the Lengar and Magden.   Love and cunning rule the day, but it’s not without a load of risk involved.   More introspection into Keen male loyalty, devotion and possessiveness is displayed, along with the more intimate details of Lengar marital rites.   Culdan is honorable, hot-blooded and tender when it comes down Meretta.  Yet, you get a full frontal view of just how vicious and unyielding a Warlord can be over his claimed mate if anyone threatens her in anyone way through word, thought or deed.

Conquest is an intense, steamy and tantalizing drama that explores the complexity of Keen relationships in those earlier, turbulent times.  Bring your cold drink and turn up the fan for this one.