Roberta Gellis

Fire Song




Fenice: Beautiful, sensuous Fenice d'Aix proudly bore her father's noble name, but the dark secret of her mother's lowly birth kept her an outcast in French society. Helpless in the face of the enemies who sought to steal her inheritance, she gave herself in a contract of marriage ... only to be swept into a passion beyond anything she had ever dreamed possible...

Aubery: Champion to the king, heir to a vast English estate, blue-eyed Sir Aubery vowed to quell the rebellion that threatened English rule in Gascony. Yet even as Fenice fought by his side, even as she risked her life to save his, still she feared discovery. For Aubery had sworn his heart to a woman of noble birth. And Fenice was the daughter of a beautiful and gentle serf…

This Scepter'd Isle
(The first book in the Doubled Edge series)
(2004)
A novel by
Roberta Gellis and Mercedes Lackey


In this exciting historical fantasy from veterans Lackey (Exile's Valor) and Gellis (Bull God), Rhoslyn and Pasgen Silverhair, elven twins kidnapped by Vidal Dhu and raised as Unseleighe Sidhe, receive alternative visions of the future. In one, a red-headed child born to Henry VIII ascends to the throne after the king's death, leading Britain into a prosperous and joyous future. In the other, another child rules, and with her coronation opens Britain to the fires of the Inquisition. Unbeknownst to Rhoslyn and Pasgen, however, the same double vision comes to their half-siblings among the Bright Court elves, Denoriel and Aleneil. Thus inspired, the two sets of twins set out to force the future they each desire. Denoriel attaches himself to Henry FitzRoy, the bastard son of Henry VIII, who may be the key to ensuring the red-headed child's rule, while Rhoslyn assumes a place in Princess Mary's household. FitzRoy, who grows from a sweet, innocent child into a sweet, innocent young adult, and Denoriel, who goes from reluctant nursemaid to dedicated almost father, get most of the attention, but it's the dark twins who provide the most interest. The mental, magical and eventually physical battle between the two sets of twins speeds the entertaining plot along, and knowledgeable readers-hey, that Anne Boleyn is going to lose her head-will enjoy the interplay between elven intervention and historical fact.

Ill Met by Moonlight




GOD (AND ELFAND) SAVE THE QUEEN

The FarSeers of the Selieghe Court in Elfland are uneasy when they peer into their great crystal lens. In the human world, King Henry VIII is ageing and the rule of his son will bring gray lives and a misery of dull oppression to England. Worse will come if his eldest daughter comes to the throne and summons 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 Vidal's determination to hurl England into a new dark age is fiercer than ever. To gain this goal, Vidal has set in motion a plan of which Denoriel and his comrades are dangerously unaware. . . .

By Slanderous Tongues




Great Harry is dead, and England is ruled by a dour Protector for 10-year-old Edward VI¿-a Protector intent on keeping total control over the young king and no friend to Lady Elizabeth because of her brother¿s fondness for her. In the great lens and the dark pool that hold Visions for the FarSeers of the Bright Court and the Dark, the images change and waver. A pale, thin girl sometimes wears a crown and sometimes has no head; King Edward and his Court grow misty as he changes from boy to stripling. But the fires of Mary¿s reign still burn bright as they swallow writhing men, women, and children, and if she ever reigns the red-haired queen brings a burgeoning of art and joy. Elimination of that last possibility for England is Vidal Dhu¿s prime purpose, but he has been forbidden by King Oberon to attack Elizabeth. Though he may not attack her directly, still he hatches schemes within schemes. And if his plan to involve the young princess in a scandal that would render her unfit to rule in the opinion of the Proctor and his Council, he has more twisted plans to eliminate Elizabeth once and for all.