Kushiel's Dart Synopsis
"When Love cast me out, it was Cruelty who took pity on me."
Terre D'Ange is a land of beauty and grace, whose people are descended from angels. Phedre no Delauney is a "whore's unwanted get", left as an indentured servant to be raised in the Court of the Night Blooming Flowers. She is an outsider here because she is blemished by a spot in her eye; she is less than perfect and cannot serve as a courtesan. Her marque is bought by Anafiel Delauney, who is the first to name her for what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, she finds pleasure in pain. Delauney trains her, alongside a young boy, Alcuin, to be courtesans and spies. In their work, they discover a threat to the throne and to Terre D'Ange itself. The conspirators sell Phedre and her warrior-priest Joscelin into slavery to the barbaric Skaldic tribes so that they cannot reveal the traitors' secrets. Together, they must fight their way free and return to Terre D'Ange to alert the Crown to the traitors' plans. The new Queen, with no one else to trust, sends Phedre and Joscelin to Alba to bring back the Queen's betrothed and hopefully his army. Upon returning, they find Terre D'Ange beset by invaders with the Queen and her allies beseiged. Phedre comes up with a plan and leads them all to victory.
Terre D'Ange is a land of beauty and grace, whose people are descended from angels. Phedre no Delauney is a "whore's unwanted get", left as an indentured servant to be raised in the Court of the Night Blooming Flowers. She is an outsider here because she is blemished by a spot in her eye; she is less than perfect and cannot serve as a courtesan. Her marque is bought by Anafiel Delauney, who is the first to name her for what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, she finds pleasure in pain. Delauney trains her, alongside a young boy, Alcuin, to be courtesans and spies. In their work, they discover a threat to the throne and to Terre D'Ange itself. The conspirators sell Phedre and her warrior-priest Joscelin into slavery to the barbaric Skaldic tribes so that they cannot reveal the traitors' secrets. Together, they must fight their way free and return to Terre D'Ange to alert the Crown to the traitors' plans. The new Queen, with no one else to trust, sends Phedre and Joscelin to Alba to bring back the Queen's betrothed and hopefully his army. Upon returning, they find Terre D'Ange beset by invaders with the Queen and her allies beseiged. Phedre comes up with a plan and leads them all to victory.
