Dion's world is a place of dangerous treacheries, where the intrigues of politics devour the unwary and single-minded zealots cleanse the unholy with fire. Demons lurk just beyond its borders - foul creatures of nightmare restrained by a tentative magic, ever eager to cross over and feed on terror, agony and flesh. It is a perilous place for any maiden newly blossomed into womanhood, but especially so for young Dion - who is provincial, innocent, naive...and the most powerful mage in the realm.Having traveled from a distant, puritanical country to study at the Gallian College of Magic - the only female student ever enrolled there - Dion knows her future is uncertain, for society allows those of her sex to perform only the most mundane of healing magics. But all that changes with a summons from the Ducal palace - and an order to serve Duke Leon's favorite mistress, the popular, enigmatic and extraordinary Kitten Avignon, Our Lady of Roses.An unsophisticated country girl, Dion is suddenly adrift in a breathtaking sea of opulence and sensuality - and under the wing of Gallia's most mesmerizing and notorious courtesan.But the ever-surprising Kitten is a woman in grave peril - stalked by a fearsome necromancer who will not sleep until his beautiful prey suffers horribly and is destroyed. And with Evil's night steadily approaching, it will take every ounce of Dion's great power to shield Kitten and herself from harm - a power whose mind-boggling scope the young mage is only just beginning to recognize and fear...a power threatened by the most unpredictable enemy of all: Dion's own youthful and yearning heart. Read Less