What is the main conflict in The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss?

Aislinn's family is attacked by the Normans under the leadership of Ragnor de Marte. The story opens with Aislinn fighting the fact that she has a rope tied about her neck with the other end held by Ragnor. Her mother, Maida, is being forced to serve the conquerors as are two of the family servants. Aislinn remembers the death of her father, Erland, at the hands of this Norman. Erland had gone out to meet them under a flag of truce, but the demands handed him were so outrageous that he rebelled and was killed in the ensuing melee.