Rebecca Beauvelley is a ruined woman. In a moment of girlish folly, she allowed a high-flying young man to take her up in his phaeton, not realizing that he was drunk. When he dropped the ribbons, she recovered them, but not in time to avoid disaster. The young man was killed in the accident. Rebecca survived, with a withered arm to remind her of the wages of folly, and a reputation in tatters. Against all expectation, her father has found someone, an elderly rogue, who will marry her. Rebecca's life seems set, and she resigned to it, when Altimere, a Fey, appears and uses his magic to show her two futures: In the first, she is abused and neglected as the dutiful wife; in the second, she is dressed and bejeweled like a princess. Rebecca chooses the second future and elopes with Altimere. Unfortunately, Altimere has an agenda of his own. The first of a two-book series. Watch for the sequel, Longeye.

Hidden from the human-inhabited world by the inimical magical device known as the keleigh, the Vaitura has become a subtle battleground where the once all-powerful Elder Fey strive against each other and the upstart Queen to regain ascendancy. Of all the Elder Fey it is Altimere who is strongest in magical kest and Altimere who is most devious. Pitted against Zaldore and her group seeking to manipulate the convelescing Ranger known as Longeye to foil the Queen and rule the world, Altimere dares to utilize the untested powers of half-human, half-Fey Rebecca Beauvally, recognized by the elemental denizens of the Vaitura as The Gardener. Now all plans must be rewritten: Becca breaks Altimere's capricious dominion with the dangerous herbal help of Duainfey, but, weakened by the effort, is held against her will in service to the Queen by Meripen's mysterious sea-lord cousin, Sian. Becca must escape the Queen's retainers to regain control of her own fate. With the magics of the Vaitura, and Altimere's retribution arrayed against her, she escapes with only her horse, a mad forest-living Brethren, and her freed magical servant Nancy at her side. Worse, the recovered legendary hero Longeye, long beloved of the Vaitura's forest folk and creatures, has re-armed at Sian's bidding, and knows most of all about Becca that she is both dangerous, and of the same folk who cruelly tortured him and slew his lover before his eyes.