Reader and Raelynx by Sharon Shinn

Cammon is a Reader, a type of mystic, and a mystic is someone who holds power from the Gods. Since most people in Gillengaria no longer believe in or remember the Gods, many people are scared of mystics, believing them to be something unnatural, or even evil.

The most famous mystic in the land is probably Senneth Brassenthwaite, wife of King's Rider Tayse, and a powerful fire-bringer and fire caster. She alone of all the mystics can touch moonstone and remain unburned and unharmed by the gem. She rescued Cammon back when he was young and starving, and brought him into the circle of mystics and Riders that she calls friends, including Kirra Danalustrous and the man who stays as closer as her shadow Donnal, and King's Rider Justin, who is now married to a girl from the Lirrenlands named Ellynor.

But not everyone in Gillengaria feels charitably towards the mystics, and more than a few noble houses hate and fear them, including the Houses of Gisseltess, Fortunalt and Nocklyn. Indeed, Halchon Gisseltess's sister, Coralinda, is the leader of a religion called the Pale Sisters, who hate mystics. Coralinda drapes herself in moonstones, and her soldiers ambush and kill mystics. But because King Barylt will not join them in their war against mystics, these noble houses believe the King should be killed, and one of their own put on the throne.

King Barylt has a single daughter, Amalie, his only child, and to stave off a war with those nobles who do not support him, he is seeking to marry off Amalie in a good marriage. He and his Queen, his second wife, Valri, seek to marry her off in a good match politically and hopefully to someone Amalie can love. To protect Amalie, they call on Senneth and Cammon, who can read the intentions of any of her suitors and see if they have less than honorable intentions towards her.

Cammon and Amalie met the year before, when she and Valri toured Gillengaria, hoping to get the support of the noble families, the Marlords and Marladies, on the side of the King. Amalie and Cammon became friendly, and now they resurrect their friendship when he is called on to keep her safe. But Valri doesn't want any sort of friendship between the two. Cammon is open and friendly to everyone, and the last thing that Valri wants is for Amalie to fall for a man she could never be able to marry. The Queen finds that the two have become friends, but instead of talking with Amalie, Valri instead tells Cammon that she doesn't want him to be with Amalie unless she is in the room with them. And when she realizes that Cammon can speak with Amalie through some form of mental telepathy, she is even more upset.

But she isn't the only one. Senneth isn't happy about the closeness that Amalie and Cammon are experiencing, as Amalie will never be able to marry Cammon, even if she falls in love with him. But Senneth can't hold herself up as an example for the two, as she is a noble and married Tayse, a common man. But she is certainly upset about it. Unfortunately, she, Tayse, Kirra and Donnal are being sent to a city of Mystics, to hopefully recruit some of them for the coming war that everyone wants to avert.

But Amalie reads Cammon's being unable to return her friendship as rejection, and becomes angry at him. In the course of this, he discovers that she has befriended the Raelynx that he and his close friends rescued during one of their adventures. It was only a kit then, and now it is grown and kept in a locked garden to prevent it from getting free and killing its way through the city. But not only has Amalie befriended it, it loves her, in its own way, and even though it is very much a large cat, she can control it as though it was a friendly dog. She wants to free it, and have it stay with her, but Cammon persuades her not to. He also discovers that Amalie is a mystic as well, and so is Valri. Valri can hide anything, even Amalie, from determined searchers, and Amalie's power is thieving magic. She can absorb power from anyone around her, mystics especially, and even mimic their powers. That's how she learned to talk back to Cammon, and how she tamed the Raelynx.

Revelation of her power, and the fact that it gets stronger when she is wearing a moonstone, leads to speculation that Coralinda Gisseltess may have the same kind of power. Since she serves the Pale Goddess, Amalie fears that her power comes from the same source and is evil, but Ellynor, also a worshipper of the Goddess, is able to calm her fears on that score.

Meanwhile, Senneth, Tayse and the others return from the village of Mystics with horrible news: Halchon Gisseltess appears to have hired foreign mercenaries to make war on King Barylt, mercenaries that the powers of Gillengaria mystics will not work on, and he is housing them on ships just off the waters of Gillengaria to invade. The war that everyone has feared is coming to pass, and as Cammon and Amalie fall in love and become lovers, they must fight to keep Amalie on the throne and the forces of the rebels from killing the entire royal family to put Halchon Giseltess on the throne. But can they do it while remaining alive themselves?

I always enjoy Sharon Shinn's books, and her "Twelve Houses" series is no exception. I had gotten the impression of Cammon as a much younger boy, perhaps thirteen, but this book brought to my attention that he was actually 17 at the beginning of the series, and is 20 or 21 in this one. Each of these books looks at forbidden love, from Senneth and Tayse, Justin and Ellynor, Kirra and Lord Romar (who was married, with a pregnant wife- they had a romance, and she made him forget they had ever been close) and now, Cammon and Amalie. In most of the cases, the romances have a happy ending, but I am wondering if this is the last book in the series, now that the rebel lords are defeated and the spectre of war no longer hangs over Gillengaria.

Well, I really hope not, because I enjoy reading tales of Gillengaria. But as the only members of the group left unmarried are Kirra and Donnal, and both of them seem lost without each other, I don't see how the series can be carried any further. But it was awfully nice to see Coralinda Gisseltess finally have an ending, and her brother Halchon as well. They were *not* nice people. And Mayva Nockin finally realized what an ass her husband was, and threw him over. That was also nice to see.

What brings me back to this series are the characters. Even the minor characters are well-rounded, and sympathetic (except the ones intended to be villains, of course). For example, even when Romar Brendyn was romancing Kirra and not thinking about his wife or their coming baby, you could understand why the two of them fell for each other, and it didn't make either of them hateful or villainous. And in the end, when Kirra decided she couldn't take him away from his wife and wiped his memories of their love affair, it came across as more of a noble act than a horrible one (although having your memories stolen is pretty bad from the victim's end of it).

All these things and more are present in this novel. Cammon, while not being a noble, is one of the nicest characters in the book, and he was really torn by calling for Amalie. He knew it was wrong, but in the end, he couldn't resist, and neither could she, and readers are happy for them when they finally make love. This book allows you to enjoy their love even as outside forces, and the force of tradition, are against them, and you wonder if this book will have an ending like that of Kirra's book "The Thirteenth House" or that of Senneth and Tayse "Mystic and Rider". It keeps you guessing to the very end, and brings a conclusion that makes sense as well as being heartwarming. May I also add that Sharon Shinn resisted killing off Romar Brendyn's wife just so he could enjoy a happy ending with Kirra?

This series is well worth the time to read, dense with ideas as well as words, and I cannot suggest it highly enough. With Romance, Politics, Fantasy and Intrigue, whatever you are looking for, you'll enjoy it here.