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When gods still walked the Earth, a king could pray for a sign and have a white bull rise from the sea to confirm his claim to the throne. But a god's price was high, and when Minos did not keep his promise to the god Poseidon, the god meddled with Minos' wife...and the Minotaur, a child with the head of a bull, was born. The question is, did Poseidon intend his son to be worshiped as a new god, or is he the god's curse on Knossos, a monster that will destroy it?

Ariadne was the Minotaur's half-sister, the only one who would touch him and care for him when he was born. She was also high priestess of Dionysus, sworn to interpret his Visions, but one Vision destroys her peace. Dionysus Sees that the bull-head must die or bring disaster upon the realm. Can Ariadne agree to the slaughter of the deformed half-brother who clings to her as the only one who cares for him? Can she protect the Minotaur in defiance of Dionysus' vision and dare the god's wrath? Should she?

Fleeing her tyrannical father, a powerful mage, Hekate seeks refuge in the Caves of the Dead, where her father's magic is powerless but where she is threatened by madness and despair, but she is rescued by Kabeiros, who breaks the terrible spell but cannot leave the Caves without being transformed into a black dog, unless she can free him from his curse.

DENORIEL: WARRIOR OF KORONOS; RIDER IN THE WILD HUNT... NURSEMAID

Denoriel Siencyn Macreth Silverhair was a warrior in Koronos' band, a fierce rider in the Wild Hunt, but when he was summoned he came obediently to the valley of the FarSeers.

A glow of power lifted about the crystal lens. "Here is the nexus of our future," said the FarSeer in the dress of ancient Greece, and a mist seemed to pass over the surface of the lens. A moment later, the surface cleared, and within it, Denoriel saw the image of a human infant, red-haired and scowling, swaddled in fine, embroidered linen and lace... and glowing with power. The babe was being held by a figure that Denoriel recognized--the mortal king of England, Henry, eighth of that name.

The lens misted again, and scene after scene played out briefly before him--briefly, but enough to show him a future very bright for the mortals of England, a flowering of art, music, and letters, of great deeds, of exploration and bravery. Oh, there were problems--twice, if Denoriel read the signs aright Spain sent a great fleet against England, only to be repulsed at minimal cost. But the troubles were weathered, the difficulties overcome, and the result was nearly an age of gold.

Peace reigns in Elfland. Incredibly, King Oberon and his exquisite but willful queen, Titania, are at peace with one another. But still the FarSeers of the Selieghe Court are uneasy. They fear trouble is coming to the mortal world of England, which is close to Elfhame Avalon. King Henry VIII is ageing but the futures shown when the FarSeers lift the great crystal lens are unchanged. The rule of the son Great Harry finally succeeded in begetting will bring gray lives and a misery of dull oppression to England. Worse will come if his eldest daughter comes to the throne--a queen warped by fanaticism who might easily summon the Inquisition to rule by torture and fire, burning out heresy ... and every bright aspect of life. The prize at the end of the rainbow is the possibility of a red-haired queen with lion-gold eyes, brilliant with interest and curiosity, welcoming the blossoming of art, music, and literature. But now the last image is flickering, edged in a dark menace.

Years before, Prince Vidal had tried to seize the child Elizabeth and replace her with a simulacrum who would soon die. Vidal had been wounded almost to death in the attempt--but so also had Denoriel, Elizabeth's principal protector. Denoriel is now healing--but so, unbeknownst to those of the Bright Court, is Vidal. And when Vidal wakes to himself, his determination to hurl England into a new dark age is fiercer than ever, fueled by his fury over his defeat and injury. Also, his Dark Court feeds on human suffering and dark emotions. To ensure his own power, he must at all costs prevent Elizabeth from coming to the throne. To gain this goal, Vidal has set in motion a plan of which Denoriel and his comrades are dangerously unaware....

Elvish Conspiracies Afoot! Heroine, Arise!

Trouble, trouble, the plots do bubble! King Henry VIII has finally joined his unmerry wives in the afterlife, and the Unseleighe Sidhe, the Dark Elves, are bent on subverting the English throne and bringing back the sorrow, horror and despair of the Middle Ages. After all, that's what made the bad old days so much fun -- for them!

Enlightenment's hope A mere fourteen-year-old girl. A bright and adaptable fourteen-year-old to be sure, but still--what chance has such a young thing against the Unseleighe Sidhe's tangled web of treachery and depravity

A pretty good one. You see, the girl's name is Elizabeth, and that fiery red hair is no lie. Whether immortal lord or malicious mortal, young Elizabeth Tudor's enemies cross her at their peril!

Two hugely-popular master storytellers of historical fantasy brew up an elvish conspiracy for the ages in this exciting sequel to This Sceptr'd Isle and Ill Met By Moonlight.

HEIR TO A THRONE--OR TO A GRAVE

When it became certain that Edward VI was dying, the duke of Northumberland, who had been ruling England in his name, made a plan that would let him hold onto his power. He dared not let Mary come to the throne because she was fiercely Catholic and he had espoused the Protestant cause. And he did not want Elizabeth to rule because he knew her imperious nature would never defer to him. But there was more than one puppet master at work: The evil elf lord Vidal Dhu had no intention of losing the flood of power the misery of Mary's reign would bring the Dark Court, and intervened so that Mary was proclaimed queen.

Urged by her Chancellor and the Imperial ambassador to order Elizabeth's death, Mary chose a different path to insure that Elizabeth would never reign. Mary decided to marry and bear a child to be the Catholic heir. Vidal Dhu, replete with power from the pain and terror of Mary's burning of heretics, agreed with Mary. Vidal Dhu had very special plans for Mary's child. And since Oberon and Titania had disappeared, there now was no one except the double pair of twins to stand between the mortals of England and the rule of Evil.