Only the strongest survive the Ride... Aurora Verte grew up as a proper lady in the Realm—until her father betrayed the sovereign. Forced to run from her family home, she meets Leora of Mae, a peasant with extraordinary abilities; Roland Shallowbrook, a traveler on the Thieves' Road; and Leopold, a former White Rider and her half-brother. Together they become The Four and vow to overthrow the Realm's corrupt leader. During their journey beyond the Border of the Realm, they come under siege from a violent gang, who attack without warning and kidnap Aurora. She is rescued from their clutches by a rival gang, but fears her saviors might be just as inhumane. With no way to contact the rest of The Four and realizing she is completely dependent on her new captors, Aurora must prove her worth. She soon realizes that all terrors aren't human when she is forced to make her first supply run and encounters a group of...

"In the Realm, every citizen knows their place."Leora of Mae is a young woman orphaned at birth and raised on a remote farm. As a wielder of Xanthcraft, her abilities set her apart from her adoptive family and the other villagers.Shortly before her twentieth birthday, she learns of her family's plot to sell her into servitude. Fearing for her life, she flees from the only home she's ever known—defying societal conventions and breaking the edicts of the Realm.As she runs, Leora meets Roland Shallowbrook, a traveler on the Thieves' Road; Lady Aurora Verte, daughter of a powerful member of the gentry; and the White Rider Leopold, a soldier with a secret. Together, this found family will have to band together to survive.Set in the distant future during the return of the Hale-Bopp comet, Gathering of the Four is the first book in The Serrulata Saga.