Crown of Vengeance begins a new epic fantasy saga from New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, set in the world of the Obsidian Mountain and Enduring Flame trilogies. The child Vielle is the daughter of a mad king and queen, her lands lost before her birth, her family erased from history. Born on a night of storm and terror, raised in hiding, then banished from the only home she has ever known—the final stroke of a war begun centuries before. Vieliessar, grown into the long adulthood that is Elven life, secretly studies hidden lore to discover the prophecy that heralded her birth, secretly studies the use of magic everyone assumes she does not have. Dark dreams teach lessons of war and duty, of strategy and magecraft, that she could not learn in a thousand lifetimes. She does not have a thousand lifetimes. She has just one—and her time is running out. For the prophecy speaks not just of her, but of a great Darkness that will destroy the Elven kingdoms. A Darkness that is soon to rise, now that Vieliessar has embarked on her quest for the High Kingship. Vieliessar is both the trigger for her people's destruction--and their only hope of survival. In this sweeping epic fantasy of magic, battle, and the twists and turns of war, Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory journey into the past of the Fortunate Lands, bringing to vivid, heart-pounding life people who will soon pass into legend. Previous Trilogies set in the world of Crown of Vengeance: The Enduring Flame Series: The Phoenix Unchained The Phoenix Transformed The Phoenix Endangered The Obsidian Trilogy: The Outstretched Shadow To Light a Candle When Darkness Falls