Alysoun Rowe descends from an ancient line of cunning women—healers and hedge witches whose full power only awakens when they bond with their destined Third. But after a spell goes frightfully wrong, she discovers her familiar is no ordinary object or animal. It’s a distant kinswoman: Anne Boleyn, a brilliant young lady on the rise in King Henry VIII’s luminous yet treacherous court.
Anne will do anything to wear the crown of England. And Alysoun will go just as far to unlock the wild magick spiraling inside her, even if it means breaking her coven’s age-old rules.
As the king’s desire morphs into a dangerous obsession and a ruthless witch hunt closes in, the two women form a reluctant truce. Bound by fate in a realm of lust, rivalry, and betrayal, they each face a choice. But how far will they go to seize power in a world that would gladly watch them burn?
Nancy Kress is the author of thirty-four books, including twenty-six novels, four collections of short stories, and three books on writing. Her work has won six Nebulas, two Hugos, a Sturgeon, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. She writes frequently about genetic engineering; including the acclaimed science-fiction novel Beggars in Spain. Kress’s fiction has been translated into Swedish, Danish, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Polish, Croatian, Chinese, Lithuanian, Romanian, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Russian, and Klingon, none of which she can read. In addition to writing, Kress often teaches at various venues around the country and abroad, including a visiting lectureship at the University of Leipzig, a 2018 writing class in Beijing, and the annual intensive workshop TaosToolbox. Kress lives in Seattle with her husband, writer Jack Skillingstead, and Pippin, the world’s most spoiled Chihuahua.