Queen of the Gryphons (eBooks 1-5 plus the Bonus story)

The court of the gryphon king has ever been a dangerous and seductive place where Ishtar’s blessing is both the hot breath of passion and the cold kiss of steel.

Ishtar’s Blade:

 

As the childhood companion of King Ditanu, Iltani never doubted her place in either his kingdom or his heart.

Then duty called her away to complete her training.

Now, a woman grown and a sword-maiden to the goddess Ishtar, Iltani returns and takes up her sacred destiny to protect the royal line.

But so much has changed.

Ditanu most of all. The youth she knew is gone. A stoic, untouchable king now sits the throne.

Does anything of their once deep bond survive?

Iltani must swiftly find her place in a court where cunning governors plot treason, trusted advisers orchestrate deceptions, and noblewomen seek to beguile King Ditanu using methods both fair and foul.

But the greatest threat of all is no mortal adversary.

Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld, desires to make Ditanu her consort and seize his kingdom for her own.

If Iltani wishes to protect her king, she must fulfill her destiny…

And become…

Queen of the Gryphons.

 

A Blade’s Beginning:

 

Return to the land of New Sumer.

After being freed from her prison cell by the King of the Gryphons, Enkara will endure the dangers of court intrigues and assassins to be united with the gryphon cub who kept her sane during the many years she spent in a dark dungeon.

But if she doesn’t reach him in time, an assassin in the service of the Queen of the Underworld will steal away her only chance to save him.

 

Blade’s Honor:

 

Rescued from her grandfather’s dungeon by the King of the Gryphons, Enkara only wishes to repay that great debt by serving as one of the elite Shadow Guards tasked with protecting the royal line.

Unfortunately, the gods have other plans.

She is one of the Goddess Ishtar’s avenging blades, born into the world when danger stalks the royal line.

While that brings far more attention than she ever wished, she is still happy to serve Crown Prince Kuwari, for he is also her closest friend, and their bond is unlike any other Blade and Prince before them.

But Ishtar isn’t the only goddess with a desire to claim Enkara as her Blade and Kuwari as her King.

Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld, is ever jealous of her younger sister, Ishtar, and will do all in her power to snatch them away.

Even if she must destroy the gryphon kingdom to do it.

 

Blade’s Destiny:

 

***Author’s Note***

Queen Asharru and Blade Tirigan are King Ditanu’s ancestors. This is book one of their two-part tale, but fear not, we’ll return to Ditanu, Iltani, Kuwari and Enkara later in 2023.

 

Decadence and depravity have long been hallmarks of the Gryphon Court and when a young king dares to bring change, his life is cut short by an assassin’s blade.

 

Tirigan, an escaped human slave, makes a desperate bid for his future by seeking out the young king who is said to abhor slavery. But Tirigan is too late and quickly finds himself back in the slave pens.

Asharru is still grieving her older brother’s death when the crown is thrust upon her. Intelligent and cunning, she knows none in her new court can be trusted. One of them is the mastermind behind her beloved brother’s assassination.

She needs help and there is only one place left for her to seek it.

The slave markets of Nineveh.

There she plans to acquire a small group of slaves, free them, restore their dignity, and offer them positions as servants and spies.

She is soon drawn to one beaten and chained man. To her horror and hope, she recognizes him as one of Ishtar’s sacred Blades, a warrior born to protect the royal line.

Tirigan has no love for gryphons, but they must put aside their differences and bond as Blade and Queen if they hope to save their kingdom.

 

The Blade’s Shadow:

 

When a queen rejected a thousand years of tradition and freed a slave and elevated him to a position of great power, it was only the beginning of their strange destiny. As Crown Princess Asharru and her sacred Blade, Tirigan, seek to eradicate the corruption at the heart of the Gryphon Court, they are met with resistance from many noble Houses.

But the greatest danger still lurkers in the shadows, for some traitors aren’t as dead as Queen and Blade might hope.

Asharru and Tirigan are too determined to allow their enemies to force them to stop.

While there is no guarantee they’ll survive to rule together, one thing is certain—they’ll love each other in this life or the next.

 

First Queen of the Gryphons:

 

Return to an ancient time where a hero is still learning to be human…

Hillalum is destined to become a king unlike any other before him, for the Goddess Ishtar has endowed him with a special gift—he is the first gryphon capable of taking on human form.

Amata, a humble shepherdess, wishes only to live a peaceful life until raiders attack her village and kill her father and brother. A consuming need for revenge soon arises from that day.

When King Hillalum’s goddess orders him to watch over a human shepherdess, he thinks he’ll find the sheep more interesting than the woman, but once he meets Amata, he soon understands the full scope of his deity’s plans.

Ishtar wishes to transform Amata into the first of her Avenging Blades—a sacred warrior born into the world when danger stalks the line of the gryphon kings.

But before Amata and Hillalum can complete the ritual to unleash the fierce magic of a goddess forged Blade, they must first win each other’s hearts. Only then will they possess a power great enough to rid their land of the raiders.

This digital boxed set contains the first three stories in the Ishtar’s Legacy universe by Lisa Blackwood. Included in this set: Ishtar’s Blade, A Blade’s Beginning, Blade’s Honor, Blade’s Destiny, The Blade’s Shadows, and First Queen of the Gryphons.