Gathering of the Four by A.E. Bennett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Leora of Mae is a young woman of nineteen and only half a year from her majority when she can decide her own future, leave the home she has grown up in and the family who has raised her since she was orphaned at a young age. The father was kind to her and didn’t treat her with the same contempt which his wife and her son, as well as the rest of the inhabitants of Mae, this is because she is Xanthi and because of this and the fact that she can wield Xancraft, she was ostracised, but when she overhears a conversation that they were going to sell her, she uses that craft and escapes, running as far and as quickly as she can because if she doesn’t the alternative is being sold into Servantry and losing her freedom, followed by her life.

Leora knows that she is breaking the Edicts of the Realm, but has no idea what that means until she is put into danger when she is found, but when she uses her Xancraft, she breaks the cardinal Edict “Every citizen knows their place”, but one good thing comes of it, she meets a fellow traveller, Roland Shallowbrook of Charm City and a member of the Thieves Road. As they travel together, they try and stay under the radar by travelling through the woods and relying on their wits and skills, however, when they run into fellow travellers Lady Aurora Verte, a member of the gentry class and Sir Leopold, a White Rider with a secret, they learn that they are not the only ones hiding in plain sight.

As the Hale-Bopp Comet grace’s the sky above these four travellers have to learn to trust each other and embark on a journey none expected, but will they be able to keep from letting their emotions cloud their judgement, or will prejudice and past experiences tear them apart? This is a fantasy adventure where strangers have to work together to survive when they are thrown together in the most unusual of circumstances, in this engaging and addictive story.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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