Mercedes Lackey - Wintermoon

“Lackey has created an intelligent, self-possessed heroine.”

— Publishers Weekly on The Fairy Godmother

“Wry and scintillating take on the Cinderella story…Lackey’s tale resonates with charm as magical as the fairy-tale realm she portrays.”

— BookPage on The Fairy Godmother

“Lee’s prose is a waking dream, filled with tropical sensualities.”

— Booklist

“Tanith Lee is an elegant, ironic stylist—one of our very best authors.”

— Locus

“A swift pace, a good mystery, a likable protagonist, magic, danger— Urban Shaman has them in spades.”

—Jim Butcher, author of the best-selling series The Dresden Files

MERCEDES LACKEY

is the author of the Heralds of Valdemar series, the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, plus several other series and stand-alone books. She has collaborated with such luminaries as Marion Zimmer Bradley, Anne McCaffrey and Andre Norton. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband, Larry Dixon, and far too many birds. Her next Five Hundred Kingdoms title, One Good Knight, will be available March 2006 from LUNA Books.

TANITH LEE

was born in 1947, in England. Unable to read until she was almost eight, she began to write at the age of nine. To date she has published almost seventy novels, ten short-story collections and well over 200 short stories. Lee has also written for BBC Radio and TV. Her work has won several awards, and has been translated into more than twenty languages. She is married to the writer/artist John Kaiine. Readers can find more information about Lee at www.TanithLee.comor www.daughterofthenight.com.

C.E. MURPHY

holds an utterly impractical degree in English and history. At age six, Catie submitted several poems to an elementary school publication. The teacher producing it chose (inevitably) the one Catie thought was the worst of the three, but he also stopped her in the hall one day and said two words that made an indelible impression: “Keep writing.” It was sound advice, and she’s pretty much never looked back. She lives in Alaska with her husband Ted, roommate Shaun and a number of pets. More information about Catie and her writing can be found at www.cemurphy.net.

New York Times Bestselling Author

Mercedes Lackey

World Fantasy Award Winner Tanith Lee

And C.E. Murphy

www.LUNA-Books.com

First edition November 2005

WINTER MOON

ISBN 1-55254-379-X

The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:

MOONTIDE

Copyright © 2005 by Mercedes Lackey

THE HEART OF THE MOON

Copyright © 2005 by Tanith Lee

BANSHEE CRIES

Copyright © 2005 by Catherine Murphy

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Worldwide Library, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

www.LUNA-Books.com

Mercedes Lackey

Lady Reanna watched with interest as Moira na Ferson took her chain-mail shirt, pooled it like glittery liquid on the bed, and slipped it into a grey velvet bag lined with chamois. It was an exquisitely made shirt; the links were tiny, and immensely strong; Moira only wished it was as featherlight as it looked.

“Your father doesn’t know what he’s getting back,” Reanna observed, cupping her round chin with one deceptively soft hand, and flicking aside a golden curl with the other.

“My father didn’t know what he sent away,” Moira countered, just as her heavy, coiled braid came loose and dropped down her back for the third time. With a sigh, she repositioned it again, picked up the silver bodkin that had dropped to the floor, and skewered it in place. “He looked at me and saw a cipher, a nonentity. He saw what I hoped he would see, because I wanted him to send me far, far away from that wretched place. Maybe I have my mother’s moon-magic, maybe I’m just good at playacting. He saw a little bit of uninteresting girl-flesh, not worth keeping, and by getting rid of it he did what I wanted.” Candle- and firelight glinted on the fine embroidered trim of an indigo-colored gown, and gleamed on the steel of the bodice knife she slipped into the sheath that the embroidery concealed.

“But to send you here!” Reanna shook her head. “What was he thinking?”

“Exactly nothing, I expect.” Moira hid her leather gauntlets inside a linen chemise, and inserted a pair of stiletto blades inside the stays of a corset. “I’m sure he fully expected to have a half-dozen male heirs by now, and wanted only to find somewhere to be rid of me at worst, and to polish me up into a marriage token at best. He looked about for someone to foist me off on—which would have to be some relation of my mother’s, since he’s not on speaking terms with most of his House—and picked the one most likely to turn me into something he could use for an alliance. You have to admit, the Countess has a reputation for taking troublesome young hoydens and turning out lovely women.” The ironic smile with which she delivered those last words was not lost on her best friend. Reanna choked, and her pink cheeks turned pinker.