A Glimmer of Guile

A Glimmer of Guile is the story of a young woman gifted with what her world calls “guile” – the ability to sense people’s feelings and influence them, to create illusions that onlookers think are real, and to do various other weird things with her mind. People like Vivia are respected – and feared. Their world calls them witches.

Raised by her father and brothers, trained as a healer by her adopted mother Katra, Vivia embraced her guile – until she fell in love with her second teacher, Raym, and learned that if she lost her virginity she'd lose her gift as well. Unfortunately, neither Vivia nor Raym could ignore their attraction to each other. So she joined Ladygate, an all-female community, and accepted that love was not for her.

After a while, though, she realizes Ladygate is not where she belongs either. So she accepts the task of investigating the disappearance of a lord's son, kidnapped, it seems, by the malevolent witch Orath. Her guilish training is not quite complete, and she hopes Raym can help her.

But Raym has also disappeared. Vivia is on her own, with a task to do – one that now touches her heart. She's almost sure she has the necessary strength and skill… to confront Orath and defeat her, to save young Tedor, and to find and rescue Raym – if he wants to be rescued, that is.

Meeting challenges head on, Vivia allows her impulsiveness to lead her into some dangerous mistakes. But she's smart enough to learn from her mistakes. Her guile grows with each success, as she follows a convoluted, hazy trail to the sea and, beyond, to the lair of Orath and her tyrannical consort, the Red Prince. There she finds Raym, captive and enthralled by a guile stronger and more deadly than she ever imagined. Planning carefully, she prepares herself for a confrontation she must believe she will win...