Chapters 1-4

Trickster's Choice opens with Aly returning to her home in Tortall after a sojourn. Her father, George of Pirate's Swoop, the second-in-command of spies, greets her. From her first appearance on the page, Aly is playful, precocious, and witty. She is also brilliant. Having been taught the tradecraft of a master spy by her father from the time she was a little girl, Aly, now sixteen, is eager to become an agent in the service of the king. Her father scoffs, believing the life of a spy is not suitable for his little girl. Her mother Alanna the Lioness—King's Champion, legendary warrior, and the first female knight in the kingdom of Tortall—reacts similarly upon her return from the battlefront in Scanra.

Alanna's visit to Pirate's Swoop marks the first time Aly has seen her mother in a year. Alanna and George cannot imagine why...