Burying Venus

Name: Burying Venus
Author: Ari Domna

72 pages

Seduced by a faerie, an envious servant poisons his masters and sets off a brutal chain of events that could destroy his homeland, his people, and the young lord he secretly loves.

Dermot Hatfield is no one. A kitchen servant and a bastard, he serves the once-mighty Stanley family while they hide behind stone walls and foreign titles, living in luxury while the local people starve. Aubrey Stanley, the kind-eyed youngest son, is a fantasy far beyond his reach.
But when Dermot crosses paths with Maldred, a beautiful faerie eager to exploit his bitterness, something in him cracks. Maldred doesn’t offer justice. He offers vengeance. And Dermot, with a sick thrill, agrees to slip something into the meals of the men he’s spent long nights fantasising about destroying.

The poison doesn’t kill—it drives the Stanleys mad.
No one is more affected than Robert, Lord Stanley’s eldest son, who sets his sights on burnings and witch trials. He sends for the most infamous witchfinder in the mainland, a man as unsettlingly beautiful as he is unhinged.

As his mother and village fall under suspicion, Dermot must put aside his hatred to stop Maldred’s rising influence and the Stanleys’ last desperate push for power. But his growing desire for Aubrey threatens to undo what little control he has left.

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