Thorns of Truth; Witch Fire

“Let us just see what sort of blaze we can light at court with a touch of witch fire.” With reckless words like those, Joscelin de Veraux might just as well have written out his own death warrant. Bound by an oath sworn to a traitor, Joscelin must endeavour to protect the sister he reluctantly comes to care for from the perils waiting for them both, without going to the gallows himself... In agreeing to accompany him, Rowène is motivated as much by an ignoble need to flee from Rogérinac and Guyard de Martine, as by desire to avenge her father's unjust death. She would also, if she could, banish all memory of her lover's brutal half-brother, a man she loathes and despises in equal measure. If only she and Ranulf de Rogé were not bound in some mysterious way, either by the Moon Goddess' whim or his silver cloak brooch which she now wears... Aware of this connection between himself and Rowène de Chartreux, Ranulf is torn between exploiting it and enduring the torments it brings him. Seeing her in his restless dreams, he knows he must break the fragile bond between them or else go mad. His distraction is only exacerbated when he is sent to hunt down Rowène's sister, and the child to whom Juliène has just given birth – a child who might well also be his... With Court, Counsel and Realm riven by old blood-feuds and new-born rivalries, is it any wonder that nothing and no-one is quite what they seem, and that truth and trust are almost as impossible to touch as the silver stars that flower in the meadows beyond the moon.