Huntress

Chapter One The Lady of Faire Isle wandered through her garden, her slippered feet scarce making a sound as she followed the familiar path. Even the lark that nested in the old elm was not stirring at this early hour, the sky just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn. The garden was as silent as the house that loomed behind her. With its ivy-covered walls, single square tower, and mullioned windows, Belle Haven conveyed a snug, solid appearance. The manor had been sanctuary to countless generations of wise women and home to the one heralded as the leader among them, the Lady of Faire Isle. Ariane Deauville, the present holder of that title, was a tall, stately woman with masses of chestnut-colored hair and solemn gray eyes. Despite all of the danger and hardship she had faced during her thirty-four years, Ariane's countenance was usually marked with a regal serenity. But at the moment, her face was pale and drawn from lack of sleep. After tossing and turning for hours, she had finally given up. Fearing to disturb her husband's repose, she had stolen from the warmth of their bed, flung a woolen cloak over her nightshift, and slipped outside the kitchen door. Her gardens had always been a source of peace to her, all those well- tended beds of herbs she used in her healing arts a great comfort. But this morning her gaze turned in the same direction as so many others all across Europetoward the sky, where that strange apparition disrupted the peace of the heavens. Even as the sky grew lighter, the comet was still visible, lurking just beneath the pale disc of moon. Ariane stared, humbled and awed by the spectral phenomenon streaking the sky. Since the dawn of time, folks had viewed comets as the herald of floods, earthquakes, plagues, famines, and the deaths of emperors and kings. Ariane knew she should be above such superstitious beliefs. But she could not suppress the chill that worked up her spine. Lowering her gaze, she chided herself for entertaining such foolishness. There was trouble brewing in the world beyond her island, but she needed no comet's arrival to tell her that. The coven of the Rose was on the rise again, the order as mad and dangerous as the sorceress who had founded it. Cassandra Lascelles had once attempted to assemble an army, drawing into the Sisterhood of the Silver Rose those women who had fallen victim to the cruelties of the world. And there were far too many of them, Ariane reflected sadly. Abused wives, girls pregnant out of wedlock, aging courtesans discarded by their lovers. The impoverished, the disillusioned, the desperate, the insane had all flocked to the Silver Rose's banner. Cassandra's intent had been to spread chaos throughout France, bring down the house of Medici so that she could place her daughter, Megaera, on the throne. The scheme might have been dismissed as pure insanity if Cassandra had not been in possession of the dread Book of Shadows, a compendium of all the most powerful, destructive, and dark ancient science. Ariane had been in Ireland at the time, driven into exile by false allegations of witchcraft and treason against the French king. By the time word had reached her regarding the Sisterhood of the Silver Rose, Cass's plot had already been foiled by Ariane's youngest sister, Miri, and the witch-hunter, Simon Aristide. With Cassandra Lascelles dead and Megaera spirited away by Martin le Loup, the girl's father, that had seemed to bring the dangerous matter to an end, or so everyone had hoped. But a few months ago, troubling tales had reached Ariane that the cult had a new leader and the witches were mounting a relentless search for Megaera. Ariane was expected to possess the wisdom and strength to deal with this new threat. Unfortunately, she felt more tired, more fragile thanCarroll, Susan is the author of 'Huntress ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780345490612 and ISBN 0345490614.