Bertana is Cynewyn’s first cousin, also a Saxon and a descendant of Aethelflaed the Warrior Queen of Mercia. She is canny, smart and unafraid to speak her mind, all qualities that her lover, Hugh d’Avranches, Earl of Chester, adores. She is one of his mistresses, and, along with his wife Ermentrude, helps produce many children that figure centrally to the next story in the series, Geva’s Way. Her fluency in French means she can help Cynewyn spy on Isabelle and her ladies, and they have a good time mocking them and their arrogant ways.