Chapters One-Four Summary

In the novel "His Fair Assassin: Grave Mercy," the once abused Ismae Rienne not only learns how to love and follow her heart, but also realizes that her gift of death can be used mercifully not just as a means of vengeance. Set in the duchy of Brittany in the mid-1850's, the novel addresses the themes of religion, the roles of women and the questionable nature of blind obedience. Ismae must weigh her own knowledge and instincts against information being sent to her by her convent in order to save Brittany and its young duchess as well as the man whom she has learned to love.

In Chapter One, Ismae Rienne is saved from an arranged marriage to an abusive man by the hedge priest who performed the marriage ceremony. The priest takes her to the abbey of St. Mortain...