Kushiel's Chosen

Kushiel the Mighty, of rod and weal

The blatant gates of late

With a blood-spotted dart, an open wound

Pricks the selected mortals' eye

Terre d'Ange is a region of unparalleled elegance and beauty. The race they dwell is descended from angels and humans, and their only guideline is to love whatever comes naturally to them.

Phèdre nó Delaunay was sold into indentured servitude as a child. A nobleman bought her bond, the first to realize that she was the one struck by Kushiel's dart and selected to share both pleasure and agony for eternity. He trained Phèdre in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber—and, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze.

She sacrificed almost all she valued in order to defend her country when she discovered a scheme that endangered its basic underpinnings. She lived to tell her story, and if others embellished it with a mythological magnificence, then they weren't far from the truth.

Phèdre feels the weight of the gods' hands hard upon her, and they are not done with her yet. While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown... and those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge.

By John Jude Palencar, the cover art