Sword of the Guardian: A Legend of Ithyria
Released April 2006 from Bold Strokes Books

Every little girl wants to be a Princess.
But sometimes, even a Princess has to make her own happy-ever-after.

Princess Shasta Talia Soltranis of Rane enjoys a pampered life of elaborate ballgowns, fancy court parties and the occasional secret fencing match with her twin brother. But on the day of her sixteenth birthday, her world is turned upside-down when a shocking assassination attempt takes her brother's life. Shasta herself is saved in the nick of time by a ragged street performer. Her father declares that the boy will become Shasta's personal bodyguard, but what Shasta doesn't know is that her new guardian hides a shocking secret... he's actually a girl!

Talon has been working as an acrobat in a vagrant performance troupe for nearly as long as she can remember. Long ago, she disguised herself as a boy in order to protect her two younger sisters. When a stroke of luck secures positions at the palace for all three of them, it seems almost too good to be true. But will she be able to maintain her disguise?

The first Legend sets the stage for the rising war between the gods, as the Goddess chooses a leader to heal her battered lands. A coming-of-age story, wherein Talon and Shasta learn what it means to believe in themselves—and in each other.