From the moment she was banished by her father, the king, Princess Maia journeyed to seek sanctuary at Muirwood Abbey, the epicentre of magic and good in the land. Now safe for the first time since her cruel abandonment, Maia must foster uneasy friendships with other girls training to be Ciphers: women who learn to read and engrave tomes of ancient power, despite the laws forbidding them to do so.
As Maia tries to judge whom to trust, she makes a shocking discovery: her destiny is to open the Apse Veil and release trapped spirits from her world. Then she learns that her father is coming to Muirwood Abbey to celebrate the Whitsunday festival-and Maia's estranged husband, whom she was forced to abandon, will join him. Torn between deadly political machinations and unstoppable spiritual forces, Maia must channel unknown powers within herself to save her friends, the abbey, and the entire kingdom of Muirwood.
***
Sanford Price was a bull of a man even in his sixtieth year, and his time as a prisoner in Pent Tower had not broken him. CHAPTER ONE, EXECUTION
***
(47North, 15 September 2015, ebook, 402 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle)
***
***
I enjoyed this book a bit more than the first book, The Banished of Muirwood. I got a better sense of the characters and events in this book. I also found it a generally more enjoyable read. Maia really develops as a character, becoming someone I can get behind. Plot threads started in the first book really come into fusion here especially Maia training as a Mason, her connection to the Myriad Ones and her father's increasingly dangerous behaviour. This was a thrilling read from start to finish and I'm looking forward to the conclusion.
