The Warrior's Path

Tamras arrives at Merin’s house hoping to begin life as a warrior. Her small stature invites doubt from others and reinforces her own uncertainty about whether she belongs among trained fighters. Instead of the role she imagined, she is assigned as companion to Maara, a guarded stranger who seems to want no company at all. Serving and coming to understand this difficult woman becomes part of an education larger than swordsmanship. The household’s relationships introduce Tamras to a world beyond the one she knew as a child. This first volume of When Women Were Warriors follows the beginnings of a young woman’s apprenticeship, placing female bonds and desire within a society where women can claim the warrior’s path.