From the front flap of the Bantam first edition: "Three of fantasy's finest talents combined in the writing of Black Trillium to tell the story of the triplet princesses of the royal house of Ruwenda. Now Julian May returns to the world she created with Marion Zimmer Bradley and Andre Norton, as a dark power imperils the fate of Ruwenda - and the entire world of the Three Moons. Twelve years past, the sisters Haramis, Kadiya, and Anigel wielded the three-part Sceptre of Power to restore balance to a world threatened by the sorcerer Orogastus. Now, amid portents of new danger, the Archimage Haramis is visited by a fugitive who beings dire news. A sorcerer marooned on the remote island called the Land of Fire and Ice has escaped, overthrowing the ruler of a small nation to establish himself as Portolanus, Master of Tuzamen. Haramis's talisman cannot - or will not - tell her if Portolanus is in truth, Orogastus, long ago banished by the power of the Septre. But it does bring worse news: The sorcerer has brought from his exile a magical object of the Star Men - a box that can unbond the three talismans of the Sceptre, transferring their considerable powers from the sisters to Partolanus himself. But the most fearsome of the signs given by Haramis's talisman concerns her and her sisters, for it has shown the Black Trillium contained in the amulet each has worn since birth - its petals stained the color of blood. Only if Haramis, Kadiya, and Anigel remain united as the Three Petals of the Living Trillium will there be hope for Ruwenda and the World. But the forces disrupting the peace between the world's peoples also threaten tear the sisters asunder."
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