After defeating the sorcerer queen in book one of the enticing Tales of a Melder series, Yrsa's adventures continue ...

Yrsa spends the winter with Prince Varluss at Demburan, where he delivers on a promise to teach her to read, and to use the sword she was bequeathed by Amluss. She learns more of the weapon's history, as well as her own szanka.

When two women are kidnapped from one of the kingdom's most isolated towns, she joins a troop of guards on a rescue mission into the Outlands, a little-known region to the north. Joining the party is Nestryn, a rich trader and father to one of the missing women.

Old ruins dot the Outlands, echoes of the Gessene Empire which once conquered the land. Now, it is home to descendants of that time, struggling to make a living, as well as many others who have chosen to disappear from the world for a variety of reasons.

As the group follow the trail of the women and their abductors, they are drawn into a dispute between one of the local leaders and a man who once worked for her. The trail takes them to the edge of the northern wastes and the last slave trading town, before forcing them to take sides in a conflict.

Along the way, Yrsa encounters a woman who tries to trick her into serving a krystylyn, makes a new friend in Taigrun, and learns more about herself.

This is the second book in the Tales of a Melder series, which blends mystery and adventure in a fantasy world much like our own, but in another time and another place. The series is suitable for a general adult audience.

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