Jacqueline Carey

The second instalment in this compelling and seductive epic of adventure, intrigue and swordplay.

I was afraid of the dark tide that stirred in me. I did not want any part of my mother's blood. And yet it called to me.'Imriel de la Courcel, third in line to the throne, was enslaved and tortured as a boy, leaving him scarred and wary of his future. Son of a traitor, Imriel fears the dangerous passions of his bloodline - and his potential for destruction.His beloved stepmother, exotic and lovely, has trained him in the arts of covertcy - espionage skills that will either serve his country well, or draw him into a web of corruption and treachery. Imriel will need all of these resources as he travels, incognito, to escape the demands of court and family ... What he discovers is not freedom, but a city at war, and a political game so deep that he may never escape its net.

A second volume in a fantasy trilogy that began with Kushiel's Avatar follows the forbidden love affair between Prince Imriel of Terre d'Ange and his cousin, Sidonie, whom he is forced to leave behind in order to join the princess he must marry, an arrangement that places his throne in jeopardy. Reprint.

A first installment of a new trilogy set in the same world as the best-selling Kushiel's Avatar finds Terre d'Ange prince Imriel de la Courcel drawing on his abilities to inflict pain on others and working against his enemies in his determination to obey Blessed Elua's precept of love. Reprint.