'...when one consorts with assassins one must expect to dance along theedge of a knife...'
In Grave Mercy (Book I): His Fair Assassin, Book I (His Fair Assassin Trilogy) by Robin LaFevers, Duval's words to Ismae describe her life to this point, balanced on the edge of a knife. This is a fascinating tale of the deadly struggle for thrones, of courts, betrayal, love, death and war. Ismae is the Handmaiden of one of the old gods of Belgium, the God of Death, Mortain, or rather Saint Mortain as this god is now called within the church's panoply of saints. Ismae is an assassin for her god. A god who places his marque on those assigned to die. Mortain determines who will live and who will die, Ismae carries out her god's will. But will Ismae follow her heart or her god? Ismae escapes an unbearable situation by entering the Convent of St Mortain. Here she finds her place, and joyfully accepts her new life. After her training she is sent on a mission by her Abbess to the court of Duchess Anne of Belgium. The young Duchess is beset on all sides, by...