Payton
Payton has shown in several of the books until now - his story. Famed courtier and knight, he is actually sought out for his name, fame as King's man, fighting skills and protection by a girl fleeing a deadly man. She has been married to a man who cannot stand her and tries to kill her once he knows she has found out his secret (hint in case you cannot stomach this kind of thing: he is a pedofile and murderer of children - no detail given but it is blatant throughout the book). She has been married and untouched for 5 years - the last two trying to save children from her husband's grasp. Upon hearing the story, Payton (famed for his beauty as a child and man) knows the ills that can befall such beauty and wishes to aid her in her quest to free the children and cut this man down. Theirs is not a story of a kidnapping or a knight saving a gal from theives to run from an enemy. He stays put - hides her and the children and faces his enemy via methods available - the King's Court, etc. The tale is told well, and they fall for each other in their combined quest to end the madness of her husband. Good read - did not know this was one of a trilogy - not sure what the second two are yet.
