The baby became a toddler, and the toddler a little girl. Dubhdara
O’Malley was the lord of the seas around Ireland. He had many
ships and several hundred men who answered only to him. Skye
soon became his acknowledged heir and a favorite among the rough
sailors. She was spoiled and cosseted by them all. She barely knew
her mother and sisters, and had no time or patience for them and
their silly lives.

In the spring of 1551 Skye’s mother died. Soon, her uncle Seamus
urged that Skye stay home and learn some woman’s ways, to sustain
her in marriage. As the priest pointed out to his brother, Skye’s
husband was more likely to appreciate a wife who could run his
home than one who could navigate a ship through the fog. Reluc-
tantly, O’Malley sent Skye home to Innisfana to learn how to be a
lady.

Angry at being taken from her beloved sea, Skye set about making
her older, married sisters’ lives miserable. She quickly learned,
however, that Dubhdara O’Malley’s mind was made up. She must
learn womanly arts. So, as her father wished, Skye set about making
a good job of it. When her next oldest sister, Sine, was married a
few months later, Skye had become accomplished in the household
arts and was scheduled to be wed next.

But though Skye had learned the womanly arts, she had not
become a biddable female. Not Skye O’Malley!

PART I

Ireland

Chapter 1

It was a perfect early summer day in the year 1555. Innisfana
Island, its great green cliffs tumbling into the deep and spar-
kling blue sea, shone clear at the mouth of O’Malley Bay.
English weather, the Irish inhabitants of the region called it,
and it was nearly the only English thing they approved of. There
was a slight breeze, and in the skies above the island the gulls and
terns soared and swooped, their eerie skrees the only counterpoint
to the breaking surf.