Times are changing in Rendelsham. The old King is dead, and the foolish Prince Florian has assumed the throne. Florian's mother, Queen Ysa of the House of Oak, still controls the land from behind the scences, but her job grows more difficult every day. Her unworthy, headstrong son is harder to control than her husband was, and she must spend more time than ever masking her own movements. Her husband's illegitimate daughter Ashen, heir to the nearly dead House of Ash, still causes trouble by her very existence, and must never be given an opening to the throne. The barbarian Sea-Rover clan presents problems from the edge of the Bog, Ysa's newest magical ally has been exposed as a traitor, and nothing is going as Ysa had planned.

And still the unknown yet encroaching threat from the North continues to grow.

Through births and deaths, marriages and duels, love and betrayal, magic and force, the four Houses of Rendelsham can only survive by the strength of their unity--but is unity possible in such a court of intrigue as this one?

**

From Publishers Weekly

Second in Norton and Miller's Oak, Yew, Ash and Rowan series, this cheerful, childlike, appealing fantasy blithely romps along after its predecessor, To the King a Daughter, replete with whimsical sorcery, swordsmanship and swampy creatures. Arch-manipulator Dowager Queen Ysa struggles for the first half of the book to control her son, King Florian, a vainglorious adolescent so sadistic that everyone, even Ysa, is relieved when he falls to the blade of brave Sea-Rover Obern. Florian's poisoned sword fatally wounds Obern, though, leaving heroine trouble-maker Ashen, Obern's young widow and Florian's illegitimate half-sister, free to wed her dashing heart's desire, Nordor prince-in-exile Gaurin. As Ysa struggles to keep her throne, a mysterious and dangerous magic threatens Rendelsham from the north. Meanwhile, young Rohan, Obern's son and Ashen's fosterling, unmasks sinister Flavielle, a shape-shifting sorceress whom Ysa enlists but who turns out to be a minion of the evil unfolding up north. Norton's fondness and aptitude for medieval styles flavors his jolly panoramas of weddings, feasts, jousts and spells in intrigue-laden Rendelsham. Besides creaky scenario, predictable plotting, one too many kidnappings and the occasional unconvincing twist e.g., Flavielle turns Rohan's beloved Lady Anamora (literally) into a birdbrain the sheer good humor and taste of this inoffensive adventure story give bland, comforting entertainment.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A superb storyteller with a narrative pace all her own."--*The New York Times *

"Veteran SF and fantasy author Norton combines her formidable storytelling talent with coauthor Miller to create a new series-the "Oak, Yew, Ash and Rowan" cycle-that should appeal to adult and teenage fans of high fantasy. Featuring an engaging and courageous female protagonist, this [is an] epic tale of hidden heirs and unfolding prophecies."-Library Journal