Juliet Kemp Bücher

Although the city-state of Marek is part of Teren, the Thirteen Houses and Guilds have long been protective of their de facto independence. So Marcia, Heir to House Fereno, expects the annual visit for the Council opening by the Teren Throne's representative, the Lord Lieutenant, to be nothing more than the usual symbolic gesture. But this year the Lieutenant has been unexpectedly replaced by Selene. As Marcia is showing her the view from the top of Marekhill, she suspects that Selene has her own agenda. After all, Teren has politics too, just like Marek. In Marek, magic is mediated by the cityangel. But elsewhere in Teren magic is enabled by bloodletting. A Teren magician will invoke a demon to do their bidding and bind them with blood. But demons are devious and will take advantage of any flaw or loophole to avoid being bound. An unleashed demon is dangerous and sure to create havoc, and the Teren way to stop them involves the letting of more of the magician's blood - often terminally. But if a young magician is being sought by an unleashed demon, their only hope may be to escape to Marek where the cityangel can keep the demon at bay. Probably. Once again Reb, Cato and Jonas must work with Beckett to deal with a magical problem, while Marcia must tackle a serious political challenge to Marek's future. But of course magic and politics never seem to remain separate for long, especially when Teren politics are involved.

Magic within the city-state of Marek works without the need for bloodletting, unlike elsewhere in Teren, thanks to an agreement three hundred years ago between an angel and the founding fathers. It also ensures that political stability is protected from magical influence. Now, though, most sophisticates no longer even believe in magic or the city-angel. But magic has suddenly stopped working, discovers Reb, one of the two sorcerers who survived a plague that wiped out virtually all of the rest. Soon she is forced to acknowledge that someone has deposed the city-angel without being able to replace it. Marcia, Heir to House Fereno, and one of the few in high society who is well-aware that magic still exists, stumbles across that same truth. But it is just one part of a much more ambitious plan to seize control of Marek. Meanwhile, city Council members connive and conspire, unaware that they are being manipulated in a dangerous political game. A game that threatens the peace and security not just of the city, but all the states around the Oval Sea, including the shipboard traders of Salina upon whom Marek relies. To stop the impending disaster, Reb and Marcia, despite their difference in status, must work together alongside the deposed city-angel and Jonas, a messenger from Salina. But first they must discover who is behind the plot, and each of them must try to decide who they can really trust.

Independence brings self-determination, but also threats from without and within.The city of Marek rests on newly-independent laurels. Their ties to Teren, the land-locked nation for which they served as sole trade link to the world, are cut; Teren's Lieutenant, Selene, has been expelled, and her seat rests empty in the Marekhill Council chambers.But Selene, fresh from her political defeat, threatened to return - next time, not with honeyed words or veiled threats, but with armed soldiers and war sorcerers. Last year, the sorcerers of Marek narrowly defeated a single Teren-summoned demon; how might they fare against a dozen or more?Twisting the already fraying cord of a city under siege, the common people of Marek grow increasingly fervent in their own demands for representation - for a say in how the city is run, and for whom it is run.Marcia, Fereno-Heir, agrees with the Lower City; they deserve a better say. But much of the Council won't hear of it - and, of course, there's Selene's threat of an army of sorcerers at the city's magical border. Sorcerers that half the Marekhill Council wouldn't even accept as real.She must work with the sorcerer Reb, her lover, to force the Council to recognise the truth of magic, whilst her sorcerer brother, Cato, rushes to build some sort of defence.Because if Teren's demons can pass the Cityangel's wards, it'll be the end of them all.

This guide provides a month to month calendar for growing food on a balcony or in a container garden using permaculture principles.--From publisher description.