The youngest child of a minor duke and his powerful wife, Maleen of Adlkofen was born to marry for political alliances. But when she was betrothed to the notoriously cruel Prince Ludvik of Kollstansze, to unify the two territories against the aggressive southern region, she found the chance to take her future into her own hands. She conspired with her powerful cousin Frederick for his daughter to take her place, married for love, and seemed set to live out the rest of her life in peace. But when Ludvik died without issue and Maleen’s son rose to the throne, she found herself as regent - not just once, but again and again, as her sons died unusual and violent deaths. Was she unlucky? Or was it something more? Elizabeth Raye-Muller has worked since 1995 on examining records kept by Maleen’s husband, and here separates the fact from the fiction about The Cursed Queen, whose life has become obscured by fantasy.