Paladin of Souls

Paladin of Souls is a fantasy novel by Lois McMaster Bujold.

In The Curse of Chalion the story of the Royina Ista, the middle-aged, mad, dowager empress, seemed over. Paladin of Souls tells her story as she figures out how to escape: she takes to the road on pilgrimage.

Several times, Ista tells the story of the traumatic & notorious attempt to undo the original curse, and every time the story is retold we learn new details...