Darkwitch Rising is the third book in the Troy Game

Troy Game

The Troy Game is a quartet by Australian author Sara Douglass consisting of four books: Hades' Daughter, God's Concubine, Darkwitch Rising and Druid's Sword. It centres around a group of characters who are reincarnated at the end of each book and take the form of renowned historical figures from...

 series by Sara Douglass.

Plot summary

All of the players are back again, born in medieval London, and with more desire to finish the Troy Game for once and for all. Brutus is reborn as King Charles, Coel as Louis de Silva, Matilda as Queen Catherine

Catherine of Braganza

Catherine of Braganza was a Portuguese infanta and queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles II.She married the king in 1662...

, Ecub as Marguerite, Cornelia as Noah Banks, Genvissa as Jane Orr and the hateful Asterion as Weyland Orr.

With Genvissa already in his hands with his imp inside her womb, all Weyland needs to do is wait for Noah to come to him as she must, with another imp inside her own womb. Then his plans are to force Jane to teach Noah the arts of Mistress of the Labyrinth, then dispose of Jane however he will. While he is waiting, he is running his own whorehouse.

Charles, the rightful heir to the throne of England is exiled to the Scilly Islands, but not entirely. Unknownst to all but his close circle of friends including Louis, Marguerite, Kate, he has a small turf of England. Together, using this small piece of earth, they scry out Noah.

Noah makes love to Brutus as a 'healing of the wounds' and they conceive a 'daughter'. That daughter is named Catling - the Troy Game incarnate. As Catling grows in Noah's womb, she traps the imps into her power.

Later in the story, Noah Banks returns to Weyland through excruciating pain caused by the imp. At this stage in the story, Catling is already born. Unknownst to her, when she would have died, Weyland came and, unexpectedly, healed her back.

Through this pain caused by imps to the two rival women in the past, Jane and Noah both become sisters through shared pain.

Much later, Noah falls in love with Weyland and deserts Louis. She is a Darkwitch, the Goddess Eaving and also Mistress of the Labyrinth. Only she, Louis and Weyland combined have the power to finally exterminate the Troy Game for once and for all.

But, without Louis by their side, Noah and Weyland fail and so the final part of the Troy Game is written: Druid's Sword.

Characters

Jane Orr

Genvissa reborn. In the earlier life, she was Swanne, wife to Harold. Jane is reborn as Asterion's younger sister, and, under his power, she becomes his whore in his whorehouse. She soon catches the pox and later falls in love with Coel, the Faerie King. She is killed by the Troy Game for betraying its true nature to Noah.

King Charles

Coel reborn. In the earlier life, he was Harold. He is King of England in this life, and mistaken by some players of the Troy Game to be Brutus. He also assumes the crown of the Faerie King.

Louis de Silva

Brutus reborn. In the earlier life he was William of Normandy. , he was His name in this life literally means 'Louis of the forest' as he was born there, bastard son of the Marquis de Lonquefort and his mistress Helene. He is French and described as having 'poet's eyes'. He becomes the resurrected Ringwalker, the Stag God Og.

Noah Banks

Cornelia reborn. In the earlier life, she was Queen Caela of England. She is Eaving, Mag reborn and, in this book, trains to become the most powerful Mistress of the Labyrinth ever seen. It is later found out that she is a descendant of Ariadne and the Minotaur, Asterion. As it is, she falls in love with Asterion and becomes pregnant with their child, Grace.

Weyland Orr

Asterion reborn. He is the dreaded Minotaur that all the other players of the Game struggle against until Noah and he fell in love. Noah then suspects that the evil is not Asterion, but the Troy Game. He has a daughter called Grace.

James, Duke of York

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

Loth reborn. In his earlier life he was Saewald, physician of King Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

. In this life he is King Charles's younger brother, a Christian who has renounced his pagan ways and upbringing from his first life as Loth.