Award-winning author Juliet Marillier "weaves magic, mythology, and
folklore into every sentence on the page" (The Book Smugglers). Now she
presents the first novel in an enchanting series that will transport
readers to a magical vision of ancient Ireland....
In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment,
embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for
vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear.
Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she
travels north to Dalriada. There she'll live on the fringe of a
mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks
for her help.
Oran, crown prince of Dalriada, has waited anxiously for the arrival of
his future bride, Lady Flidais. He knows her only from a portrait and
sweetly poetic correspondence that have convinced him Flidais is his
destined true love. But Oran discovers letters can lie. For although his
intended exactly resembles her portrait, her brutality upon arrival
proves she is nothing like the sensitive woman of the letters.
With the strategic marriage imminent, Oran sees no way out of his
dilemma. Word has spread that Blackthorn possesses a remarkable gift for
solving knotty problems, so the prince asks her for help. To save Oran
from his treacherous nuptials, Blackthorn and Grim will need all their
resources: courage, ingenuity, leaps of deduction, and more than a
little magic.
