Waterdance

Waterdance, Anne Logston, Ace Books, 1999

Peri is the impetuous daughter of High Lady Kayli of the land of Agrond. It's no surprise that Peri has picked up some of her mother's talent in the areas of magic and sorcery. The problem for Peri is that she would much rather be known as someone who knows how to handle a sword.

One night, while accompanying her father on an official trip, Peri comes across an injured person being held captive by a group of very nasty people called bone hunters. She rescues him, only to find that he is from a neighboring land called Sarkond. She has been taught all her life that everyone, and everything, from Sarkond is to be avoided at all costs.

Instead of killing the Sarkond, named Atheris, which is Peri's first thought, they have the now upset bone hunters to deal with. They enter Sarkond and join a religious pilgrimage, which, for Peri, is traveling in the wrong direction. Atheris is a heretic with a price on his head, and if Peri is recognized as not being from Sarkond, her life expectancy will be very short.

This novel is somewhere in the realm of pretty good. It's easy to read, and contains enough sorcery for everyone, but, ultimately, I found it to be nothing too special.