In the middle of political wrangling, Yelena receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by Ferde, the Soulstealer who murdered eleven girls and has escaped from prison with Cahil Ixia’s help. Yelena, though is trying to keep Sitia and Ixia from going to war. Worried that her new powers will corrupt her, the Council debates her fate. Yelena's new role as Soulfinder has made the Sitian Council uneasy. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with her new enemies. If that wasn't bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince, and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians. Despite the turmoil, she's eager to start her magical training. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways, and her newfound friends and relatives don't think it's for the better. Although she has gained her freedom, she can't help feeling isolated in Sitia. Yelena is on her way to be reunited with the family she'd been stolen from long ago. But her true love, Valek, quickly learns that an assassin has taken it upon himself to make sure Yelena doesn't reach her destination….Īs Ixia's chief of security, and a highly skilled assassin himself, can Valek track down the killer in time to save Yelena's life? An order of execution hangs over her head should she ever return to Ixia.

Snyder's stunning debut novel Poison Study, is on her way to her ancestral homeland of Sitia to be reunited with her family and to learn more about her magical powers. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear! Her life’s at stake again and choices must be made.

Rebels plot to seize Ixia and she develops magical powers she can't control. As Yelena tries to escape her dilemma, disasters keep mounting. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust, and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison. And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace, and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered a reprieve.

Sea glass by maria v snyder