In the Hand of the Goddess

In the Hand of the Goddess appeared in 1984 as the second of the four Song of the Lioness novels, and it follows Alanna of Trebond through her years as a squire and on to her knighthood. She has swapped places with her twin brother, Thom, in order to train as a knight, and the whole book is driven by what that deception costs her.

Pierce uses the training years to show what her heroine is made of. Alanna fights in the war with Tusaine, is kidnapped and rescued, learns to heal with a gift she was taught to distrust, and acquires a talking black cat whose purple eyes match her own. The goddess who has claimed her as a patron appears at her campfire in person and gives her an amulet that lets her see magic being worked.

The novel is also about Alanna working out what kind of woman she wants to be once the disguise comes off. George Cooper's mother takes her in hand and teaches her court dress and manners in secret, which changes how her friends look at her, and her growing attachment to Jonathan is complicated by everything she still cannot say. It is a middle book, and it takes Alanna as far as her knighthood.