The Mystic Marriage

Antuniet Chazillen lost everything the night her brother was executed for treason. She spent years in exile, and she has sworn that treason will not be the last word on the Chazillen name in the history of Alpennia. A long-hidden book of alchemical secrets gives her the first real hope of restoring it.

Her return to the capital is not safe. An enemy wants the book's secrets for himself and shadows her every move. To continue her experiments she needs money and protection, so she seeks a patron.

She finds one in Jeanne, Vicomtesse de Cherdillac, who is bored. The Rotenek season is flat, her latest lover has become tiresomely jealous, and her usual circle of friends no longer amuses her. Antuniet's arrival at her door begins as a diversion. It turns into curiosity, and then into something closer to love.

The alchemy of precious gems drives the plot, and Antuniet's work draws a danger large enough to threaten the crown of Alpennia itself. This is a historical fantasy with a romance between two women at its center, set among the court and society of Rotenek. It is the second novel of Alpennia, following Daughter of Mystery.