Mythopoeic Fantasy Award nominee 2006, Locus Award nominee 2006.
Prince Boleso is dead — slain by a noblewoman he had intended to defile.
Lord Ingrey kin Wolfcliff has been dispatched to the remote castle
of the late, exiled, half-mad royal to transport the body to its burial
place and the accused killer, the Lady Ijada, to judgment. Ingrey's
mission is an ugly and delicate one, for the imminent death of the old
Hallow King has placed the crown in play, and the murder of his
youngest son threatens to further roil already treacherous political
waters. But there is more here than a prince's degenerate lusts and the
fatal retribution it engendered. Boleso's dark act, though unfinished,
inadvertently bestowed an unwanted mystical "gift" upon proud, brave
Ijada that must ultimately mean her doom — a curse similar to one with
which Ingrey himself has been burdened since boyhood.
A forbidden spirit now inhabits the soul of Ijada, giving her senses
she never wished for and an obligation no one sane would desire. At
once psychically linked to the remarkable lady and repelled by what she
carries within, Ingrey fears the havoc his own inner beast could wreak
while on their journey, as he fights a powerful growing
attraction... and an equally powerful compulsion to kill.
The road they travel together is beset with dangers — and though
duty-bound to deliver Ijada to an almost certain execution, Ingrey soon
realizes that she is the only one he dares trust. For a malevolent
enemy with designs on a troubled kingdom holds Ingrey in his sway — and
without Ijada's aid and love, the haunted lord will never be able to
break free and realize the great and terrible destiny bestowed upon him
by the gods, the damned, and the dead.
