After six months under siege, Aymar Castle is running out of food. The castle's sorceress is working on a plan to magically create sustenance (she was able to do it with their water supply, so there is hope!); a serving girl is doing her best to survive and create her own hidden rations supply; and then there's the knight, a woman sworn to serve the king, even if it means keeping track of the batty sorceress and her futile attempts at food. And then, just when all hope is lost, the castle stores are replenished and the sick are healed through the arrival of the Constant Lady, matriarch of the religion that rules Castle Aymar. But the three women at the center of this story aren't fully convinced that the ethereal saint and her companions are what they seem...and the same goes for the food the saints provide.
With a medieval setting and very realistic concerns about a long siege, it's not hard to tip the story into horror. And Starling delights in creating a constantly shifting backdrop of fear, where neither the readers nor the characters know what's real, what's trustworthy, and what might kill them. It's gory and gruesome, but excellently told. Just don't read it while you're eating.
