When Princess Annice was 14 she persuaded her dying father, the king, to decree that she could become a Bard. This made the her brother, Prince Theron, the king-to-be, angry because he wanted to wed her to the prince of the neighboring kingdom to create an alliance with that kingdom, Cemandia. So when he became the king, Theron decreed that Annice was no longer a royal princess and that if she ever bore a child without his permission, she would be committing treason.
So Annice goes on to become a Bard, one of those special people who can command the nature spirits of air, water, earth and fire. In Annice's case, she can command all four kinds of spirits when most Bards can control only one type of spirit.
She loves her life, traveling the land and performing her Bardic functions. Until she discovers she is pregnant. And the father of her child, a one-night-stand, has been arrested for treason and has been hauled to the capitol in chains. From what she knows of the man, Pjerin, Duc of Ohrid, she is certain he did not do the crime he is accused of, even though he has admitted it. So she sneaks into the King's castle and frees Pjerin. Pjerin tells her that he knows he admitted to the treason but also knows he didn't do it and he doesn't understand what strange force compels him to admit to actions he didn't do.
Together Annice and Pjerin travel back to Ohrid to unravel the mystery of his false confession, both hunted by the king's guard, Pjerin for conspiring with Cemandia to invade the kingdom and Annice for bearing a child without the king's permission.
This was a fairly good story. It starts out pretty slow and doesn't really become more interesting until Pjerin and Annice set out on their journey to Ohrid. Until then, it's not that exciting.
It's the first book in a four part series. It was not interesting enough to entice me to read the rest of the books in the series. Although I will say, unlike many series, this book stands alone quite well, with no really annoying cliffhangers.
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