The Silken Shroud — ElizaBeth Gilligan

The second book of the dazzling Silken Magic series, set in the mythical kingdom of Tyrrhia, where courtly politics, magic, and the silk trade intersect.

Romani magic had gifted the princess Alessandra with the blessing of the Fairy folk.

So when death claimed her at the White King's Court in Tyrrhia, not only her own clan and the man she loved, Maggiore Mandero di Montago, but the Fairy folk, too, cried out for justice and revenge. For Alessandra's corpse had been stolen -- bound by spells to entrap her soul -- so her energy could be used to work dark magic. If her body wasn't found and her soul wasn't set free within a year, she would be transformed into a creature of evil, the goodness within her completely consumed.

Alessa is held by a master of the dark arts, a man who has a high position in the Church and who might yet call upon powerful allies for support. And even with the magic of the Rom and the Fairy folk to aid him, Mandero would be in terrible jeopardy as he sought to find and free Alessa from her earthly prison.

Yet he must try at all costs, for the stakes are far higher than the loss of one soul, no matter how beloved. If the enemy's plans cannot be overturned, all Tyrrhia might be plunged into a religious war that could see an end to the last stronghold of peace, tolerance, and true magic....