Arrows Of The Queen, Mercedes Lackey

Talia has been reserved and untrusting in the past.
She was punished for 'inappropriate emotions', punished for 'telling lies' (ie, trying to tell adults when her older brothers hurt her), and her older siblings were, in general, unsafe people to trust.

When she becomes a Herald, and is in training as a Herald, these traits work to her detriment.
Talia hides her unhappiness because it is an 'inappropriate emotion' - and the other Herald-trainees perceive her as being a quiet and reserved person, not an unhappy and lonely one.
To make matters worse, several of the younger sons of the nobles use Court tricks to try to drive her away. When that fails, they try to kill her. Talia does not tell anyone of the Court tricks - not even the Heralds she most likes - because she is accustomed to not being believed. The older Heralds only discover the danger to Talia when she is nearly killed.

In the second book of the series (Arrow's Flight), Talia's reserve and unwillingness to confide in other Heralds gets her into even more trouble!

Copyright (C) Jenn Vesperman, 1999

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