When Sarelin becomes gravely injured during a hunt, she gives a sealed letter to Lysande naming the Councillor, the person who will select the next monarch should Brey die, since she has no heirs. When Sarelin dies, and it appears she has been secretly murdered, Lysande is stunned to discover that she had been selected by Sarelin for the role of the Councillor, despite not being a noblewoman of Axium, the land within Elira where she and Brey lived.
Now Lysandee has people who are fiercely jealous of her, while being solicitous of her, and she must also select the next ruler from a pool of four people, one of whom very likely had a hand in Sarelin's murder. Fortunately, she has her recently chosen advisor, Derset, and her assistant/page, Litany, to help her through this difficult and strange time.
Lysande gathers the royal city-rulers from across Elira to suss out who could be the murderer. There is the First Sword of Valderos, Dante Dalgereth, an enormous brute who rules the ice-covered north. His complete opposite is Prince Jale of Lyria, a charming and handsome youngster of 20 whose lands are filled with gold, sapphires, and the blistering desert heat. Cassia Ahl-Hafir, the Irriqi of Pyrrha, is an exotic woman who rules her jungle lands with flair and strength, and is especially fond of big cats such as panthers and leopards. Finally, there is Prince Luca Fontaine, the dashing and mysterious Rhimese prince who is often seen with his black pet cobra curled around his arm. Are these four friend or foe or somewhere in between?
Following a few assassination attempts during the gathering of the city-rulers, Councillor Prior puts forth the possibility that The White Queen was not really killed in the great war Brey fought against her many years ago, and she is behind not only these attempts, but also the death of Sarelin Brey. Lysande then suggests that until that threat is eliminated, the city-rulers should all rule together on the First Council of Elira. Naturally, they at first balk, but then agree, only if she will serve on behalf of Axium, to which Lysande reluctantly agrees. Amidst the decadent bribes and platitudes of the city-rulers, and the tests of strength and cleverness Lysande has put forth for them to prove their abilities, she finds herself fighting strange headaches and growing pains, while dulling her surroundings with her secret addiction to chimera scale.
As the Council sets out on a journey to visit each of their respective kingdoms to appoint someone to act in each ruler's stead to lead their cities, they find that more attacks come along the way. Can Lysande figure out who The White Queen's embedded pawn is before they complete their mission and essentially hand the kingdom of Elira over to this dangerous woman with a huge and dangerous grudge? She's going to have to rely on the unlikeliest of allies and maybe even get some help from a few elementals if she has any hope of surviving this mess.
The Councillor was not a rapid read for me, because there were so many characters to get to know as the story unfolded. In this matriarchal world of Elira where most of the high-ranking soldiers and people of importance were women, it took quite a bit of time for the world-building to really cement itself in my head. Once the groundwork was laid, however, the story steamrolled on ahead and was intensely exciting. There's danger, romance, magic, intrigue and betrayal, all layered together. I get the feeling this is not the last we'll see of Lysande Prior and I certainly want to see where she goes from here, because it was a really fun ride. If you like fantasy stories with magic and the occasional mythical beast, you'll probably enjoy The Councillor.
