La Couronne d'étoiles, tome 3
Kate Elliott1998

An uncertain and uneasy peace has fallen on the kingdom of Wendar, but at the court of King Henry the various factions still jockey relentlessly and ruthlessly for position. It seems that the king's favor has fallen upon Prince Sanglant, his bastard son, and that he is to be the chosen heir. But Sanglant is too troubled by the recent past to seek that crown. He needs time to recover and, most of all, he needs Liath, the woman who saved him from his terrible captivity – even though such a liaison must incur his father's implacable wrath.

Liath, born with a dangerous power beyond her understanding or ability to control, is torn between her longing for Sanglant and the child they are about to have and the call of sorcery, which can open the way into the land of the Aoi, the Lost Ones. She has also learned that her mother, a powerful practitioner of the banned sorcerous arts, is not dead, as she always thought, and is seeking her to school her in the same arts.

And Alain, their friend and ally, although happily restored to the bosom of his family and married to the saintly Tallia, is in mortal danger from the curse of Bloodheart, who is reaching out from the grave.

As the fates of kingdoms shift with the changing fortunes of those caught up in the dangers of both civil war and continuing attacks by the nonhuman Eika and the Quman invaders, time is running out for Liath, Sanglant, King Henry, and the people of Wendar and Varre.

Titre original : Crown of stars, book 3: The burning stone (1998)