"Though Vanyel has been born with near legendary abilities to work both Herald and Mage magic, he wants no part of such things. Nor does he seek a warrior's path, wishing instead to become a Bard. Yet such talent as his if left untrained may prove a menace not only to Vanyel but to others as well. So he is sent to be fostered with his aunt, Savil, one of the famed Herald-Mages of Valdemar.

But, strong-willed and self-centered, Vanyel is a challenge which even Savil can not master alone. For soon he will become the focus of frightening forces, lending his raw magic to a spell that unleashes terrifying wyr-hunters on the land. And by the time Savil seeks the assistance of a Shin'a'in Adept, Vanyel's wild talent may have already grown beyond anyone's ability to contain, placing Vanyel, Savil, and Valdemar itself in desperate peril..."

Okay! So it's probably the most melodramatic thing she's ever written... but I love it *smirk* It's just the best. It focuses more on the relationships between characters than action and it certainly has a two-box tissure warning ^^; But it moved me, the boy who burst into laughter at Titanic *embarrased look* WHAA~AAT?! *sulk*

*deep breath* Vanyel, a snotty little rich kid clashes with his hellish immediate family over his lack of physical prowess and desire to become a midievil rock star. His father, fearing his sons fairyish tendencies and lousy attitude dumps him off on his aunt (the black sheep in the family... cause well... she isn't inherently stupid and doesn't have any obvious mental disorders). He's basically a pain in the ass to everyone until he finds out that one of the trainees he's living with is not only drop-dead gorgeous but has a thing for guys... Eventually he comes to terms with his sexuality, finds his soul-mate, beats up his boyfriend, gets his nose broken, does something really stupid, has lotsa *sniffle* bad things happen to him, unleashes the potential to be the most powerful mage in history, temporarily loses his mind, is adopted by a bossy horse, tries to kill himself, inadvertantly almost kills everyone else, kills a drake, saves a village, and gets some snazzy white duds in the process. *gasps for air and bows*

*'nother deep breath* S'about 10 years or so since Van first got his Whites, he's saved lotsa people, dallied around with lots more, had a couple of kids (but dammnit he didn't enjoy it!!). Now what he wants to do more than anything else in the whole wide world is knock out and sleep for a century or so. Meanwhile he gets invited home to babysit for sheep and play nursemaid to a really ugly, meanspirited horse. While he's there he's mistaken for a peodophile several times, has the usual terse arguements with his family, is chased around by women, hit on by little kids... in short; he's in HELL!!! Well some kid from a neighboring hold gets his tushie in a tangle and Van has to bail him out. Problem is, the kid looks just like 'Lendel... the infamous blonde bombshell from the first book. Oh yeah! And the kid gets a bossy horse too. *bow*

*hyperventalates* Van's friend, the king has a serious case of chronic migrane headaches, he's having trouble paying attention in court n' stuff. So they call in this talented midievil rock star named Stef who can relieve pain with his music. Well, Steffie does a really good job, considering he's an ex street orphan/short order slut. Steffie falls for Vanyel but Van won't have any of it. Stef makes himself look pretty stupid, but since he's really cute they still become friends. By then everyone's out to set Van up and they both find themselves invited to his parents' place together, Gods know why. Well, while they're there, Van's mother is attacked but gets out of it safe thanks to Steffie-poo. Basically everything comes together into this huge, horrible, nasty mess that Van has to fix. But Stef won't let him go all by his lonesome. And then... *sniffles and voice trails off into unintelligable whimpers*