Votive — Karen Brooks

Return to the beautiful, deadly world of The Curse of the Bond Riders, where the stakes are ever higher as Tallow morphs from talented boy apprentice to unwilling female courtesan and assassin!

The stakes are higher than ever when the Maleovellis inform Tallow they are now her patrons. Realizing she is a girl, they clean her, dress her in gorgeous robes, change her name to Tarlo, and tell her she is to practice her candle making for them alone. They teach her to read, write, and give her lessons in history, science, politics, etiquette, and the ways of the aristocracy. Using Tallow's talents, they intend to wipe out the royal bloodline and take the throne. Encouraged by the lovely and persuasive Giaconda, Tallow learns the arts of love, spying, and disguise. Throughout it all, she creates her candles, never really knowing the subtle purposes for which they are being used. Yet, as the Maleovellis' fortunes change, she finds that flickering inside her are vague memories, fleeting and unstable, that taunt and challenge her apparent acceptance of her new life. When an old love returns and an attempt is made on Tallow's life, she must enter The Limen to live. Unexpectedly, someone else also enters -- a new Bond Rider whose pledge is set to change the face of the world forever.