For 17-year-old Tess, growing up in a medieval English village has always meant keeping her power of fire-sight—and her trips to the forbidden Dragonswood sanctuary—a secret, especially from her abusive blacksmith father. But when a witch hunter funded by the absent prince's regent comes to her village, Tess finds that her clandestine actions have been noticed after all. Accused of witchcraft, she escapes her violent trial and flees into the nearby forest with two childhood friends. The group of runaways are soon taken in by a mysterious woodward named Garth, who harbors secrets of his own.
As Tess attempts to rebuild her friends' shattered lives, she finds herself developing startling and unfamiliar feelings of affection for their host. At the same time, fairy voices begin to call to her in her ruined left ear. The voices draw her northward toward the fey kingdom of DunGarrow, nestled deep in Dragonswood. Once in DunGarrow, Tess becomes entangled in a complex political plot designed to help the fairies and dragons protect their sanctuary from the regent's destructive campaign. This plot, prophesized in a troubadour's song, involves marrying a fairy maiden to a member of the part-dragon, part-human royal family, combining the three races into a powerful alliance.
But how will this be accomplished—especially when the regent has other plans? And what role will Tess, with her fire-inspired visions, play in the fairies' scheme? In Dragonswood, author Janet Lee Carey blends fantasy, mystery and romance into a carefully researched medieval tale that will entrance readers and draw them fully into Tess' world.
