Author: McGiffin, Janet, Pizzey, Harry Fiction: special featuresPublished on 1 May 2023 by Scotland Street Press in the United Kingdom as part of The Empress Irini Series series.Paperback | 352 pages, Illustrations, black and white197 x 131 x 35 | 314g The second book in The Empress Irini Series, charting the extraordinary rise to power of Irini of Athens. Irini’s conniving mother-in-law, her five jealous step-brothers, and her own husband, Co-Emperor Leon, threaten Irini’s safety in Constantinople. She summons Abbess Thekla, her knife-wielding friend, to bring her sharp wits and courage to get Irini safely through childbirth in the Great Palace. Thekla owes Irini her life and thus her loyalty but she is staggered by Irini’s powerful ambitions which far exceed being docile wife and mother. Can Thekla survive Irini’s vengeful nature and the bloody aftermath of Irini’s ruthless ambition? More from the Empress Irini SeriesBetrothal and BetrayalSeizing Power
