Alicia nurses the wounded monarch Gareth back from the brink of death, winning his deep devotion and secret coronation as queen of the elven realm. When Gareth temporarily rides out on border warfare, Alicia's tyrannical stepmother mistakes the unpretentious maiden for a common servant, subjecting her to brutal beatings and locked quarters.
Forced toward an unwanted betrothal to an elderly aristocrat, Alicia clings to survival and calls her royal protector's name. When Gareth marches back into the estate and sees his battered bride, his magical retribution obliterates the wicked conspirators, demonstrating the fatal cost of harming royalty.
