Elizabeth I has died. Science promises light where superstition offered shadows.Mared believes the old ways still have power but her father — minister, soldier, physician and Master of Cynvael — thinks his eldest daughter should be more like her sister Lizzie, a biddable advocate of this coming age of reason. When Mared uncovers dark arts as well as dark secrets in her father’s life, she must join with Lizzie to find truth… and to act.