In 1878, Lady Katarina Sikova Nilsson Movila embarked on an adventure to leave behind the the vestiges of her home in Louisiana's heartland. She ran from a culture laced in rituals and traditions hundreds of years in the making and set out for a life away from the traps of titles and birthrights. She yearned to be a part of the new surge being built upon determination and freedom but she was quickly reminded of a woman's place in polite society. US Marshall John McDaniel set off to retire his star and get back to the land his father secured for the future generations of the McDaniel clan. His inquisitive nature put him first on a path to becoming a lawyer delayed by entrance into the Union Army only to be sidelined even more when he took the oath of office under the tutelage of Judge Issac Parker in the court of Little Rock Arkansas. His best efforts to get back to Texas and to the ranch before his 35th birthday took another derailment in the embodiment of a five foot five cyclone with auburn hair and piercing green eyes hell bent on escaping the chains of conformity and destroying the men who stood in her path...or so he initially thought. When the pair first met in the dark fetid lowlands of Louisiana, they were impressed, at first, by one another's boldness which quickly turned to a hurried infatuation. But such bravado can come at a price, can they overcome their stubborn ways and embark on a path together the one that is the least expected for them both.