Jerlayne — Lynn Abbey

THE SECRETS OF FAERIE

When Elmeene was young, a scourge devastated the realm of Faerie. Mortals had learned to work iron, and the immortal elves who ventured through the Veil to forage in the world of men, had brought the toxic metal home, unaware of the danger. Iron's poison had swept through Faerie, leaving no elfin home untouched by blooddeath, threatening to annihilate this land of undying people.

Elmeene had risked her life to discover the cure for blooddeath, and had saved her world.

Now, two thousand years later, Faerie seems to be thriving. Elfin women shape metal, wood, stone, and fire, and heal their injured. Elfin men once again part the Veil to forage in the lands of mortals.

But Elmeene's youngest daughter Jerlayne, who has inherited not only her mother's talent, but also her ambition and independence of spirit, feels that all is not well in her land. Her mother Elmeene is withdrawn and secretive. Jerlayne senses a brittleness behind her mother's strength; turmoil beneath her surface serenity.

Jerlayne knows that elfin bloodlines do not breed true--that an elf often gives birth to a dwarf, a gnome, or even a siren--thus providing Faerie with its varied races. But when Jerlayne fails to have any elfin children at all, she sets out on a quest for answers--a quest which will take her through the Veil to uncover mysteries which date back to the founding of Faerie itself!