A Snake Among Swans

Tilde is the last surviving heir of a conquered land. All her life she has heard the kithwood, the mysterious forest of her homeland, carry the voices of her ancestors. Now the forest and her kingdom are both under threat.

To bring the killing to an end and join two peoples, she agrees to marry King Liran, an aging warlord. Her duty is to bind their nations together and give him a son.

Liran's court is a dangerous place. His older sons see Tilde as a rival to their claim and will do whatever it takes to be rid of her. Princess Elise has known nothing but loyalty to her family. The priests hold power over every one of them.

None of them knows that Tilde is a snake in their midst. She has allies of her own and a dark, forbidden power, and she wants her kingdom back, whatever the cost to herself.

This opens the Wing and the Ways trilogy. The series is dark epic fantasy, with rival kingdoms at war and female rage at its centre, and it takes loose inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Wild Swans.