Lament: the faerie queen's deceptionDeidre Monaghan is extremely nervous about competing at the Eastern Virginia Arts Festival. Her "fear of public humilation" causes her to run into the bathroom where Luke Dillon comes to her rescue. Luke is the mysterious boy from her dream the night before. After regaining her nerves, Deirdre heads outside with Luke to practice her harp. He goads her into playing "The Faerie Girl's Lament" and joins her with his flute. In the end, Luke pushes Deirdre into making the piece her own and they play a duet for the competition. As strangely and mysteriously as he appears, Luke slips off but promises to return for the awards reception.
After leaving the tent at the reception, Deirdre goes off to look for Luke. When she comes across the pugent smell of herbs, Dee looks and sees that she is standing in a patch of four-leaf clovers. Upon standing up, she sees a ginger-haired young man with an abundance of freckles studying her. He tells Deirdre how well she played all the while circling her. She is a bit uneasy until Luke arrives and he is adamant that no one is there. He knocks a four-leaf clover from her hand. Arriving back at the tent, they run into a beautiful acquaintance of Luke's who remarks that They were all amazed at how beautifully Deirdre played and that she will be watching. Luke is quite annoyed. They go to join Deirdre's mother and aunt Delia when they notice a burly man talking to them about their performance. He leaves a business card stating "Thornking-Ash" and says they are looking for performers. Soon it is announced that Deirdre and Luke are the grand prize winners.
The next day, Luke and Deirdre go for ice cream and she notices that Luke has a ring full of keys. He gives her one and says that secrets are tied to the number of keys you carry. The secret he tells her, "I have no business being fascinated by you." They soon return to Deirdre's home where her Granna has arrived for Dee's belated birthday dinner. Granna frowns when she sees Luke and points to a dull, silver-colored ring on her hand. Then she asks him if he knows what she got Deirdre for her birthday and what is he doing here again. Granna tells him not to think of it and to go back to Them. Luke tells Granna he is not one of Them and her is here for just a litle while. Luke leaves and Granna gives Deirdre the dull ring from her finger. She tells Dee it's a family heirloom and that she needs it now. Her best friend James soon arrives for dinner. James is in love with Deirdre, unbeknowst to her.
Even though Deirdre knows nothing about Luke and strange things continue to happen around her, she and Luke are soon head over heels in love. Shortly Deirdre is sought by the Faeries (Them) who wish to kill her for her musical and other abilities, Deirdre is a cloverhand; one who can call faeries, and it seems that Luke is her protector. Or is he as Deirdre finds out that for over one thousand years Luke has been in the service of the Faerie Queen as her personal assassin. Soon everyone Deirdre loves is in danger and not everyone is who they seem. Dark secrets abound as Deirdre rushes to save those she loves. But is she in time?
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Ballad: a gathering of faerieSPOILER ALERT: The companion to Lament: the faerie queen's deception.
Two months have passed since the end of Lament. Deirdre and James have deicded to continue their high school and musical career at Thornking-Ash. Where Lament is told from Deirdre's point of view, Ballad is told in alternating points of view between James and Nuala. Nuala is a leanan sidhe, the lowest of the low solitary fey. Nuala is nearly human. She is reborn from ash every sixteen years and needs the creativity of preferably handsome young men to live. Nuala feeds off their energy until death. Nuala's next mark is James but with his previous faerie experience, he is not buying what Nuala is selling. James is still hung up on Deirdre. As things get weirdier at Thornking-Ash school, can James and Deirdre survive another run-in with the faeries?
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