“A spark of rebellion is all it takes to defy the night.”
Imagine a kingdom plunged into chaos by a strange fever that has reached epidemic proportions. The only cure is a tea made from the petals of the moonflower.
In this retelling of the legend of the heroic Prince of Thieves, (aka, Robin of Sherwood Forest), Tessa Cade is dispensing elixirs made from contraband moonflower petals to the less fortunate inhabitants of her village in the Wildes sector of Kandala. Tessa's father, a master Apothecary, taught her everything he knew before he and his wife were brutally executed by the Kandala Night Patrol for smuggling moonflower petals and unlawfully distributing the cure in their district. (Moonflower petals were a tightly controlled commodity in Kandala.)
“Mind your mettle, Tessa.”
Traumatized by their deaths, Tessa secretly continued her parents' crusade. Tessa would sneak into the more affluent parts of Kandala, steal from the hording rich, and then redistribute the medicine to the suffering poor. Wes Lark had saved Tessa from certain death on the night her parents were killed and has been her accomplice for several years now. They each wear masks so that, if they are captured, they will not be able to disclose the identity of the other if they are tortured.
“When there are calls for revolution,” I say to him, “we should be riding at the front, not hiding in the shadows.”
When Wes is captured, Tessa - wild with grief - invades the royal palace, intent on some vague/half-formed notion of revenge. But before she can even catch a glimpse of the King, she is almost immediately captured by the ruthless Prince Corrick - the King's Justice! He is notorious for the slow torture and brutal extermination of all smugglers and traitors. Tessa is prostrate with fear and prays for a swift death!
“I think that very few people truly deserve what they get, Tessa.” He pauses, and for the briefest moment, sadness flickers through his eyes. “For good or for bad.”
Imagine her mounting terror when she is taken to Prince Corrick's private chambers! No spoilers here, but instead of her immediate execution, Tessa is given her own rooms at court and finds herself under Prince Corrick's protection! The rest of this wild tale kept me up until the wee hours of the morning because I just had to find out what was going to happen to Tessa, Corrick and the rest of the characters of this madcap kingdom!
“He looks like revolution. He looks like compassion. Blue eyes and gentle hands and quick feet and a core of strength and steel.”
I was highly entertained! There was a fair amount of violence, but it was not overly prolonged and graphic - for which I was very grateful! I approved of the redemptive themes in this novel. The King and Prince Corrick were as much victims of the power struggles and violence of those uncertain times as the rest of the inhabitants of Kandala. Kind-hearted, brave Tessa was the voice of reason, reconciliation and the hope for peace: messages that I will support and uphold each and every time! Corrick is perfection, I will not accept any negative things on him. Applause, Applause! A 5 out of 5-star hands down, I love this book so much and it will forever hold a special place in my heart for making me fall in love with the fantasy.
*None of this art belongs to me*