More captivating than the first volume.

This is the second book in the Bitterbynde trilogy (after The Ill-Made Mute and before The Battle of Evernight).

Now that the old carlin Maeve One-Eye has healed Imrhien, restored her beauty and her voice, but not her memory, the young woman can travel to the royal city of Caermelor in order to deliver to the King-Emperor the secret message of the treasure found at Waterstairs. She goes there disguised as Rohain Tarrenys, Lady of the Sorrows, the distant islands or Severnesse. Alas, the King-Emperor is not at court but has gone to battle against the army of unseelie beings who have declared war on humankind. She has no choice but to wait, try and find clues about her past, and look for the mysterious Dainnan warrior Thorn whom she's fallen for.

But for Imrhien it's hard to blend in, with the constant threat of the courtiers seeing through her disguise if she doesn't learn their manners fast. Luckily, she soon makes friends with her maid Viviana, who starts to teach her slingua (a made-up court-language).

Seeing that the King-Emperor is not coming back any time soon, she decides to make for Isse Tower, where she used to be known as the Ill-Made Mute, to meet those among whom she used to live and gather information on her former life. There she makes an astounding discovery, but her happiness is short-lived. Indeed, after an attack by the unseelie hordes, she comes to understand she might actually be the target of Huon the Hunter and his Wild Hunt.

Even though I found that the heroin's name changed too often, I liked this middle-volume better than the previous one. For one part it is not as over-written, but its pace is also faster. The plot is more captivating, with a romantic first half and intriguing, albeit predictable ending chapters, in which the story shifts to another place and time when the legendary Faêran still roamed the land of Erith.

7/10