Being a bastard blows. Tilla would know. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children.
At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stablehand half brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax's floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father's side, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who's been in love with Tilla since they were children.
Then, at a feast honoring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards' Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.
Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana's uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead--with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery.
The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart-if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey . . .
Tilla has always just wanted her father's approval and to become his heir. Instead, she is a bastard daughter who is treated fairly well, but not as well as his wife and legitimate daughters. However, on the day of a visit from the monarchy, Lyriana, the princess, goes beyond convention and sits herself at the bastards table. Wary of her, but sensing her innocence, a friendship grows. Tilla, Lyriana, Jax, Miles, and Zell sneak out at night to visit the beach, but while there they witness their parents kill Lyriana's Mage uncle, betraying the throne to start a war for freedom of their lands. Now wanted, they flee to find help from Lyriana's father in the capital. As they near freedom, a betrayal from one of their own stops them in their tracks and derails their plans.
That's all I got. LOL! This really was a great book. I was leary of the title, however I thoroughly enjoyed the story and am looking forward to a sequel!
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