To save Renard's life Ariane knows she must at last confront Catherine di Medici. But when she summons him, she discovers that he is already on his way to Paris after receiving a false summons from the Dark Queen herself. The only man who can help Ariane stop Catherine is Renard. Then a wounded stranger arrives on Faire Isle with evidence that could destroy the Dark Queen. When this prophecy comes true, Renard's determination is unrelenting, but Ariane wants nothing to do with the arrogant nobleman who, she senses, harbors too many dangerous secrets. His grandmother (also a wise woman) saw a prophecy that proclaimed Renard would become lost and would find his true path after meeting a ' woman with quiet eyes'. The Comte de Renard is determined to make Ariane his wife. She knows that this is what her peaceful mother would have wanted her to do. Even with this knowledge, Ariane is content to remain in her home and watch over her sisters and the people of the Isle. All of Europe is afraid of the ' Dark Queen' who is said to employ black magic to ensure her own and her children's continued and uncontested power. Ariane, the eldest sister, wears the mantle of her wise and beloved mother whose recent death is said to be the result of dark magic conjured by her bitter rival, Queen Catherine de Medici. They are ' daughters of the Earth' and their legacy is the gift of healing and white magic. The three sisters Cheney are descendents of the Lady of the Faire Isle.

The courtesan susan carroll