Ill Met by Moonlight
SEND HER
VICTORIOUS . . .
OR EVIL WILL REIGN FOREVER!
((or))
GOD (AND ELFLAND) SAVE THE QUEEN
(or)
BET ON THE RED
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. . . .
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mercedes Lackey is the author of the Bardic Voices series and the SERRAted Edge series (both Baen), the Heralds of Valdemar series (DAW), and many more. Of her writing, Stephen King has stated, “She’ll keep you up long past your bedtime,” and Locus raved, “Lackey is one of the best storytellers in the field.” She has her own fan club with over 1,000 members, and was one of the first writers to have an online newsgroup devoted to her writing. Among her popular Baen titles are The Fire Rose, The Lark and the Wren, and The Shadow of the Lion (with Eric Flint and Dave Freer). She lives in Oklahoma.
Roberta Gellis is author of over 25 novels in different fields. New York Times best-selling author John Jakes has called her “a superb storyteller of extraordinary talent,” Publishers Weekly has termed her “a master of the medieval historical,” and Romantic Times has praised her as “a master spinner of tales.” Her many awards include: The Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from West Coast Review of Books and the Golden Certificate and Golden Pen from Affaire de Coeur. From Romantic Times she has received both the Award for Best Novel in the Medieval Period and also the Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fantasy. And the Romance Writers of America have presented her with their Lifetime Achievement Award. Her previous fantasy titles for Baen are Bull God and Thrice Bound.
Cover painting by Larry Dixon
Cover design by Jennie Faries
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
First printing, March 2005
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 0-7434-9890-9
Copyright 2005 by Mercedes Lackey & Roberta Gellis
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
http://www.baen.com
Production by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH
Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webwrights.com
BAEN BOOKS by Mercedes Lackey
Bardic Voices
The Lark and the Wren
The Robin and the Kestrel
The Eagle and the Nightingales
The Free Bards
Four & Twenty Blackbirds
Bardic Choices:
A Cast of Corbies (with Josepha Sherman)
The Fire Rose
The Shadow of the Lion (with Eric Flint & Dave Freer)
This Rough Magic (with Eric Flint & Dave Freer)
The Wizard of Karres (with Eric Flint & Dave Freer)
Beyond World's End (with Rosemary Edghill)
Spirits White as Lightning (with Rosemary Edghill)
Mad Maudlin (with Rosemary Edghill)
Bedlam's Bard (with Ellen Guon)
Born to Run (with Larry Dixon)
Wheels of Fire (with Mark Shepard)
Chrome Circle (with Larry Dixon)
The Chrome Borne (with Larry Dixon)
The Otherworld (with Larry Dixon & Mark Shepard)
This Scepter'd Isle (with Robeta Gellis)
Ill Met by Moonlight (with Roberta Gellis)
Castle of Deception (with Josepha Sherman)
Fortress of Frost and Fire (with Ru Emerson)
Prison of Souls (with Mark Shepard)
Lammas Night
Werehunter
Fiddler Fair
Brain Ships (with Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball)
The Sword of Knowledge (with C.J. Cherryh, Leslie Fish & Nancy Asire)