Genre: Fantasy
Tilla was raised by a father with a royal title, Lord Kent of the Western Province. Things were good for Tilla until he remarried and had legitimate children. After that point she was technically provided for, but he spent less and less time with her. She didn’t mind spending time with the other royal bastards (especially her half brother, Jax), but often wished her father would visit her like he did in the old days. When Princess Lyriana comes for a visit, Tilla is shocked when she chooses to sit at the bastards’ table. They end up agreeing to meet Princess Lyriana later to show her the tunnels under the castle and have a bit of fun, but end up witnessing a coup! They all manage to escape, but are now on the run from Tilla’s father and others of his loyal subjects who participated in the coup. Tilla isn’t sure if she can trust her father not to kill her for what she saw, but she does feel a responsibility to Princess Lyriana, whom she knows was supposed to die that night had she been where she was supposed to be. Can they get the princess across the country to warn the king of the threat coming his way? Will they be any more accepted by the King than they were back home? Will Tilla and her friends ever be regarded as more than just a bastard?
This is the first in a series and contains a very interesting setup. The royal bastards are not treated terribly well in their kingdom, but they still have some benefits over servants as long as they don’t draw a lot of attention to themselves. As they have gotten older they have questioned what their role will be as adults, but their royal parents are not keen to discuss much of anything with them let alone future plans. When the Princess comes to visit it becomes painfully clear that when the kingdoms merged there were still many people who wished they had stayed separate and have been planning their chance to break away this entire time. This of course leads Tilla to wonder if her father has merely kept her around to help with this coup he has been planning or if he truly cares for her. Meanwhile, the other bastards are dealing with their own insecurities, but for the good of them all they vow to band together to help the princess. Can they really get to safety when everyone they ever cared about is trying to hunt them down? Recommended for readers who enjoy fantasy series.
Young Adult Book Reviews 