Dismemberment

As far back as Keane could remember he had always loved Steyan. But she was a princess and he of the Kings Guard and forbidden to marry. Knowing that only via dismemberment could he resign the Captain's post, still he could not walk away for he would challenge even the blinding sun itself if that's what it took to win her.When Vinni was five, her mother was institutionalized for madness. Vinni’s family, the women of the Red House, have built their wealth and standing by using alchemy to make homunculi: Artificial creatures that act as companions and helpmates. Vinni's mother made the best.Since her mother was sent away, Vinni has longed to make homunculi as brilliant as her mother's. Though none of her Aunts will undertake to teach Vinni anything serious of the craft until she's had her first blood, Vinni is learning in secret, hampered by the strict rules of her Grandmother, who leads the Red House.Vinni's quest to make a homunculus early puts her on a collision course with Grandmother's plans for the Red House, which are in turn putting the Red House on a collision course with the rest of Sangrila, the most powerful city state on the Red Coast.When Vinni discovers that her Grandmother’s plotting is responsible for her mother's insanity, she flees to the streets of the city. On the streets, hunted by the other forces of Sangrila, Vinni collects a group of her sorceress cousins and street urchins to become the opposition to her Grandmother's monstrous plans. Can they save the only home Vinni has ever known?