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An evocative and magical romance set in the legendary time of King Arthur.Elen, the daughter of a Welsh chieftan, lives in the border territory with her widowed mother and her brother. Her family are keen to ally with King Arthur, but some of the other local chieftains, in particular Urien, are not so sure.One night Elen is called out to tend to a woman in childbirth, and when her mother offers her some strange advice before she leaves she realises with trepidation that she is going to the fae folk. In return for her aid in the safe delivery of a baby boy, the fae magically delay her return home; so when she arrives Urien’s men have already left, leaving her home in ruins and her mother brutally butchered.Elen determines to ride to Arthur’s court to beg for aid in driving out the invaders. What she doesn’t know is that Urien is the paramour of Morgaine, the most powerful sorceress on the Isle of Britain, Arthur’s half-sister and his deadliest enemy. Morgaine and Urien decide that Elen must not be allowed to reach Arthur. But they reckon without the valiant Geraint, younger brother of the renowned Sir Gawain. He is determined to prove himself worthy of his place at the round table, but when he meets Elen he will find there are things other than honour worth fighting for.
After a brutal attack by local chieftains leaves her family home in ruins, Elen of Wales embarks on a perilous quest to seek justice from King Arthur. Driven by the loss of her mother and the destruction of her home, Elen must navigate a landscape fraught with political instability and supernatural threats. She is pursued by the forces of the sorceress Morgaine, who seeks to prevent her from reaching the court. Her path crosses with Geraint, a knight striving to prove his worth, forcing both characters to weigh their personal desires against the rigid demands of duty and honour.
This work is characterized by its focus on the intersection of personal tragedy and the broader mythos of the Arthurian cycle. The narrative suggests a deliberate pacing that balances the urgency of Elen's quest with the internal development of Geraint as he grapples with his identity as a knight. The inclusion of fae elements provides a distinct supernatural layer to the traditional historical fantasy framework. Readers likely find the interplay between the established legends and the author's original character arcs to be the central point of interest in this interpretation of the Camelot mythos.
Page Count:
448
Publication Date:
2011-07-04
Publisher:
HarperCollins
ISBN-10:
000715870X
ISBN-13:
9780007158706
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