In the thirty years since Elizabeth I ascended her throne, fae and mortal politics have become inextricably entwined, in secret alliances and ruthless betrayals whose existence is suspected only by a few. Two courtiers, both struggling for royal favor, are about to uncover the secrets that lie behind these two thrones. And a faerie lady's courage and loyalty are about to be tested.

Rescued from highway robbery by the dashing Bonny Gilderoy, feisty Lady Godiva Dacre and her pretty companion, Mistress Kylie Delishe, are reunited with the charming but disreputable rescuer as they deal with a coup threatening the Scottish throne.

The year is 1587. One of Queen Elizabeth's cousins is found murdered, her flesh marked with profane symbols. A plot to assassinate Sir Francis Drake, England's most famous sea warrior, is discovered. One man is charged with the desperate task of solving both cases: John Shakespeare. Shadowed by his rival, the Queen's chief torturer, Shakespeare travels through an underworld of spies, sorcerers, whores, and theater people-including his younger brother,...

In 1565, seventeen-year-old Elin von Snakenborg leaves Sweden on a treacherous journey to England. Her fiance has fallen in love with her sister and her dowry money has been gambled away, but ahead of her lies an adventure that will take her to the dizzying heights of Tudor power. Transformed through marriage into Helena, the Marchioness of Northampton, she becomes the highest-ranking woman in Elizabeth's circle. But in a court that is surrounded...

Wealthily widowed and fiercely independent herbalist Lady Susanna Appleton sets out to save her former nemesis from being burned at the stake.

The courageous, spirited Mary Queen of Scots tells her own story--from her youth as a young girl married to the invalid young King of France to her short reign as Queen of Scotland and her tragic imprisonment by her ruthless, merciless cousin Queen Elizabeth.

When several of Queen Elizabeth I's maids of honor are found dead, rumors of black magic abound. Elizabeth calls upon Giordano Bruno to solve the crimes, along with the help of her personal astrologer, John Dee. But while Dee turns to a mysterious medium claiming knowledge of the murders, Bruno fears something far more sinister is at work.

Elizabeth writes a diary near the end of her life in which she records court intrigues and the burdens of political power.

"June, 1584. On hearing news of the sudden death of her stepfather, Sir Walter Pendennis, Rosamond Jaffrey must leave London for Cornwall to look after the interests of her young half-brother and try to mend her strained relationship with their mother. However, on arriving in Cornwall, Rosamond makes the shocking discovery that Sir Walter was in fact murdered, and reluctantly she agrees to work with an agent of the queen's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham,...