Princess Esofi of Rhodia traveled to Ieflaria to marry Prince Albion, who she has been engaged to since they were children. Unfortunately, before she gets there, Albion dies in an accident. Ieflaria still needs Esofi's help and she cannot return to her homeland, so instead she is simply set to marry the next in line: Albion's sister, Adale.
While Esofi struggles to deal with Ieflaria's dragon problem, she also has to contend with Adale's abrasive personality, scheming cousins trying to take the throne, and this possibly blasphemous "science" that Ieflaria seems obsessed with.
It is the first book in the Tales of Inthya series by Effie Calvin.
This novel provides examples of:
- Action Girl:
- Esofi it turns out is quite skilled with magic, and easily beats Theodoar using it during their duel.
- Lisette, Esofi's bodyguard, is a fierce petite woman whom no one doubts is extremely dangerous.
- Altar Diplomacy: Princess Esofi of Rhodia was betrothed to Prince Albion of Ieflaria since they were children, for securing the alliance between their two countries. However, after Albion suddenly dies, Esofi's betrothed to his sister Adale to keep the arrangement.
- Bait-and-Switch: It initially appears that Esofi is a pampered but kind politician while Adale is a rough and tumble warrior. In reality, Esofi is a highly trained battlemage who personally killed quite a few dragons, while Adale is a spoiled rich girl who does nothing but party with her friends.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: Lisette is Esofi's bodyguard, who's quite a skilled warrior on her own.
- But Not Too Bi: Esofi reflects that, like most people, she's bisexual. In the book she only shows attraction to Adale, another woman, however.
- Combat by Champion: Theodar challenges Esofi to a duel as part of a plot to give Adale long enough to escape her responsibilities. Adale (who isn't sure she wants to escape Esofi any more) offers to be Esofi's champion. Esofi fights him herself and wins handily.
- Court Mage: Archmage Arran Eads, who is the liaison from the Temple of Talcia to the royal court (because Talcia is the Goddess of Magic). He's among the most powerful mages in Ieflaria, though Esofi thinks that isn't saying much since Ieflarians are weak in magic overall. Most of the time he isn't really concerned with magic, but medical science, and it's confusing for Esofi.
- The Dragonslayer: Esofi has killed several dragons, though in concert with other battlemages. This is still very impressive to the Ieflarians, who have suffered continual dragon attacks. When he attacks her, she kills the emperor of the dragons on her own.
- Everyone Is Bi: No one sees anything odd about Esofi marrying a woman; the only question is the heir, but that's not an insurmountable obstacle. She explicitly notes that, like most other people, a person's gender doesn't really matter for her in terms of picking a spouse.
- Fantasy Pantheon: In Rhodia, Ieflaria and all other countries that Esofi knows of eleven gods are worshiped. Both view the Eleventh god as the tiebreaker among the others, however they differ on which that is. Ieflarians, and people on the entire continent of Ioshara, believe that Cyre, God of Animals is the Eleventh. However, in Rhodia Nara, Goddess of the Sky, is the Eleventh.
- Cyre is the son of Eyvindr, God of the Harvest.
- Eran is the God of Dreams.
- Talcia is the Goddess of Magic.
- Talcia is also the wife of Iolar, God of Law and Civilization.
- Dayluue is the Goddess of Romantic Love, mostly depicted with scant clothing.
- Reygmadra is the Goddess of War.
- Adranus is the God of Death. However in Ieflaria he also has dominion over healing, whereas Rhodia ascribes this to his daughter Adalia.
- Ethi is the God of Knowledge.
- Avala, the Goddess of Winter, is viewed as Eleventh in Siabaeld.
- Inthi is the God of fire, metal work and smiths. Being neutroi as well, Inthi also appears to de facto be the neutrois' deity. Most of the people who they bless with their magical gifts are neutroi.
- Pemela it appears is the Goddess of marriage, though her domain is not explicitly stated.
- Merla's domain is also not specified, though it's indicated she's connected with water somehow (maybe a sea goddess).
- First Kiss: Esofi and Adale share one after the two bond over their shared affection for Albion, Esofi's former fiance/Adale's brother (who's deceased). This makes them realize they're attracted to each other and become happy with their arranged marriage.
- Gender Bender: A common magic in the setting, and why no one is too worried about the heir of two women. The problem is that you have to want the Change for it to stick; actual trans people are easily able to Change permanently, but there is some doubt whether either Esofi or Adale will be able to maintain it long enough to produce an heir.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Esofi is a blonde, dutiful Princess Classic who's betrothed to Adale, a brunette Rebellious Princess who's uninterested in ever becoming queen and spends her days indulging herself at first.
- Happily Arranged Marriage: Princess Esofi and Princess Adale end up with one. At first Esofi simply considered the marriage her duty, but wasn't enamored with Adale given she's an irresponsible hedonist starting out. For her own part Adale was not happy with being married to someone whom she didn't choose. The two bond however, finding they're attracted to each other as well, and become quite happy with the arrangement.
- The Hedonist: Princess Adale along with her friends and the second or third children from most noble families. They spend their days amusing themselves by hunting, gambling and drinking.
- High Priest: The different gods in Ieflaria have orders which serve them at their temples, headed by archpriests or archpriestesses.
- Keystone Army: The dragons turn out to be controlled by their emperor. When he's killed, the rest flee since they hadn't actually wanted to fight-he forced them.
- Lady-In-Waiting: Princess Esofi is accompanied by several ladies in waiting, who are friends of hers too. One of them, Lexandrie, is also her cousin. Another, Lisette, is also her bodyguard.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Esofi and Adale are actually both bisexuals, but they otherwise qualify. They're princesses who have long hair which is artfully styled and wear beautiful dresses. Esofi's frequently mentioned as wearing makeup too, including lipstick, and wears some particularly gorgeous dresses at times. They fall for each other over the course of the book.
- Living Lie Detector: Truthsayers, rare magic users, are capable of telling if anyone lies.
- The Magic Comes Back: A downplayed example. Ieflarians largely have stopped worshiping Talcia, Goddess of Magic, as they blamed her for the attacks of dragons against Ieflaria (as they're magical creatures). As a result, until the book she had denied most people magic. However, some specific magical gifts (of healing, fire or metal work) are connected to other gods, who still blessed followers with them. Magic was thus scarcer, though not gone entirely.
- The Magic Goes Away: Minor case. Part of the reason Rhodia is having so much trouble with dragons is because their battlemage population has been sharply declining. While they have plenty of other types of magic, battlemages are those blessed by Talcia, and best equipped to fight dragons. Esofi brings a cadre of trained battlemages and plans to build a university. This apparently pleased Talcia, as she blessed a number of adults with magic—something that normally doesn't happen.
- Magic Knight: Esofi is skilled with magic, and can instantly create a sword to fight with too.
- Magic Versus Science: Esofi doesn't trust this new "science," especially superstitious tales of tiny monsters called "bacteria," and mentions that they might have to burn down the hospital for blasphemy. Adale, while far from a scientist herself, is well aware of the benefits of science (in particular, there hasn't been a plague in Ieflaria in a hundred years) and tries to talk her down.
- Military Mage: Rhodia has battlemages, powerful enough to take down dragons (at least in groups). A force of them gets sent to Ieflaria with Princess Esofi. Ieflaria has been suffering attacks from dragons, so receiving battlemages is a key part of their alliance to Rhodia.
- Nice to the Waiter: Adale is known for kindness toward servants or commoners generally. This means she'd be a much better regent than either of her cousins, in her parents' opinion, because they're quite callous to them and this would alientate the common people.
- Non-Heteronormative Society: In Rhodia and Ieflaria nearly everyone is bisexual, therefore same-sex marriages are quite acceptable. Gauslen, Adale's friend, turns out to be "neutroi" as well (apparently a nonbinary gender) and uses the title "Noble" instead of Lord or Lady. A same-sex couple can switch sexes to have a child, which trans people use as well who desire it. Several other minor neutroi characters are also shown, and unremarkable. One of the gods is neutroi as well, along with their clergy overall.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Adale's full name is Adaleheidis, though only her father uses it.
- Opposites Attract: Blonde Esofi is a dutiful and pious princess who's very straitlaced. Brunette Adale is a skeptical hedonist who cares nothing about convention. Nonetheless, they bond and fall for each other.
- The Order: All the gods have their own clergy and followers, with different focuses that depend on their domains. The Order of the Sun are the paladins who serve to protect people, dedicated to Iolar.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Like all monsters, dragons are the children of Talcia, who's the Goddess of Magic. They once were intelligent and could speak, but Talcia took those gifts from them as they succumbed to greed. Actually, while Talcia is upset with them, they are still intelligent and fully capable of speech. Their Emperor merely ordered them not to. Talcia is considered their mother and viewed as a dragon by them. It's revealed they shed their skins like a snake every few years, while mother dragons breathe fire on the eggs to start them hatching. Young dragons can't fly until they're at least a year old. Otherwise they are portrayed as typical Western dragons, massive fire-breathing, flying reptilian beasts.
- The Paladin: The Order of the Sun, whose members are knights who swear oaths against drinking, gambling and lying (even about minor things), while they're dedicated to protecting the weak.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Esofi dresses in a gorgeous, bejeweled, trailing dress when attending a high-class party.
- Politically-Active Princess: Princess Esofi is very concerned with the issues of Ieflaria, since the reason she went there to begin with is forging a marriage alliance between it and Rhodia, her home country. She's intent on protecting them from dragon attacks with her battlemages and setting up a university to train more.
- Posthumous Character: Prince Albion, whom Princess Esofi was originally betrothed to, died before the start of the book. His death is what sparks the plot as she then agrees to marry his sister Adale instead. Everyone liked him, with Esofi remembering Albion fondly and Adale loving her brother, leaving her deeply saddened by his death. They bond when Esofi shares letters that she exchanged with Albion, making Adale and her realize the two have a mutual attraction, meaning their arranged marriage becomes a happy one.
- Power Incontinence: When a person first gets magic, they can't control it, and this necessitates being trained in its use.
- Pretty Princess Powerhouse: Princess Esofi is a very skilled warrior, easily the best shown in the book, wielding quite powerful magic, while looking the part with a very feminine style despite this.
- Princess Classic: Esofi is a beautiful, feminine, elegant princess who's devoted to her kingdom, accepting being in an arranged marriage as just part of her duty and not understanding other people disliking them.
- Princess Protagonist: Esofi and Adale, the book's two protagonists, are both princesses of their respective countries. The plot is started by the arranged marriage they have for allying the two.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The current king and queen of Ieflaria are unfailingly patient with Esofi and Adale, consider themselves servants of the people, and sponsor arts and sciences.
- Rebellious Princess: Adale of Ieflaria. She's an irreverent hedonist who's openly uninterested in inheriting the throne initially.
- Religion is Magic: Magic is considered a gift from the Goddess of Magic, Talcia. Its lack in Ieflaria is a result of Ieflarians worshiping Talcia less, since she grants it through kissing people personally (usually as babies, but sometimes adults too). Some more specific magical gifts though are from Inthi (fire or metal work) and Adranus (healing) however.
- Rotating Protagonist: The book alternately shifts focus between Esofi and Adale, the two protagonists.
- Royal Mess: The Ieflarian monarchs are called regents. A regent is someone appointed to act in the place of a monarch (e.g. after one dies until their heir comes of age). Here however they're clearly rulers in their own right, leaving this title unexplained.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Princess Esofi trains mages and fights dragons along with the more usual royal things such as going to balls.
- Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Esofi can create a sword using magic to fight with instantly.
- Switching P.O.V.: Each chapter shows things from either Esofi or Adale's perspective.
- Tomboy Princess: Esofi and Adale are both tomboy princesses to some degree. While both have a feminine style, Esofi is a very skilled warrior with a sword that she conjures and battle spells. Adale enjoys hunting frequently and also often defies the expectations put on her as a princess.
- Training the Gift of Magic: In order to safely use magic, people must be trained, as otherwise they can't control it.
- What's Up, King Dude?: Ieflarians are much more familiar with their rulers than other countries. Esofi mentions that on her journey, many peasants were perfectly willing to walk up and shake her hand, then talk loudly in her earshot about how pretty she is and how she'll have no trouble getting a new hand in marriage.
- Wizarding School: Rhodia has universities which train mages. Esofi sets about setting up one for this purpose in Ieflaria as well for the same purpose. However, when a lot of Ieflarians start developing magic, she sets up a makeshift school in the temple dedicated to Talcia, Goddess of Magic, for them.
