Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman entwines the real scandals of history with epic fantasy to reimagine the world's most brilliant ruler, Alexander the Great, in the second book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series. The warrior, Jacob, determined to forget his first love, vows to eradicate the ancient Blood Magics and believes that royal prisoner Cynane holds the key to Macedon's undoing.Īnd in chains, the Persian princess Zofia still longs to find the Spirit Eaters, but first must grapple with the secrets of her handsome-and deadly-captor. Meanwhile, Hephaestion, cast aside by Alexander for killing the wrong man, must conceal the devastating secret of a divine prophecy from Katerina even as the two of them are thrust together on a dangerous mission to Egypt. In Macedon, war rises like smoke, forbidden romance blooms and ancient magic tempered with rage threatens to turn an empire to dustĪfter winning his first battle, Prince Alexander fights to become the ruler his kingdom demands-but the line between leader and tyrant blurs with each new threat.

Along the way, she analyzes the suspicious deaths of some of the most famous royals in history. In The Royal Art of Poison, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman combines her unique access to royal archives with cutting-edge forensic discoveries to tell the true story of Europe's glittering palaces: one of medical bafflement, poisonous cosmetics, festering illness, and, sometimes, murder. The most gorgeous palaces were little better than filthy latrines. Phsyicians presribed mercury enemas, arsenic skin creams, drinks of lead filings, and potions of human fat and skull, fresh from the executioner. Women wore makeup made with mercury and lead. Ironically, royals terrified of poison were unknowingly poisoning themselves daily with their cosmetics, medications, and filthy living conditions. Servants licked the royal family's spoons, tried on their underpants, and tested their chamber pots. To avoid poison, they depended on tasters, unicorn horns, and antidotes tested on condemned prisoners. For centuries, royal families have feared the gut-roiling, vomit-inducing agony of a little something added to their food or wine by rivals to their station.

The Story of Poison is the story of power. A hugely entertaining work of pop history that traces the use of poison as a political - and cosmetic - tool in the royal courts of Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the Kremlin today.

Legacy of kings by eleanor herman