Throughout the novel as Yelena gets into various difficult situation, a 'buzzing' sensation is described that seems to save her from her predicaments. She has an outgoing nature suppressed by years of abusive experiments performed on her by Brazell, the prominent official and her father figure, and his son Reyad, making up for her initial physical weakness by learning to fight, wield various weapons, and pick locks. However, as Yelena becomes next in line for the noose, she was offered the chance to become Commander Ambrose's food taster, whose job is to train in the art of detecting poisons, eating small amounts of the Commander's food at each meal in case of a food-poisoning related assassination plot. Often described as a rat in human disguise, she spent a year in a rat-infested dungeon waiting to be hanged as punishment for murdering Reyad who was also the son of a prominent official. Yelena – An orphan with unexplained origins, Yelena is an intelligent, twenty-year-old woman working as a food taster for Commander Ambrose. Valek delays the death order long enough for her to leave with the other kidnapped children to return to Sitia, where she nervously hopes to be united with her family and to learn to control her magic. But for her use of magic in the inflexible land of Ixia, she must be put to death. She discovers that the Commander was born a woman, and promises to keep that secret. Yelena and Valek defeat him and capture Brazell, but the Commander's mind has fled and it is up Yelena and her magic to find it. The magician has stolen the souls and magic of many of the young children, and has opened the Commander's mind to magical influence. In the end, she and Valek discover that General Brazell and a rogue magician from Sitia are behind the plot, as well as the kidnapping of many children from Sitia, including Yelena, for their magical abilities. But she must use her abilities to protect herself not only from other magic users coming into Ixia, but against those who plot against the commander and against Valek, who she is slowly developing feelings for. His wants for her death causes Valek, the assassin and right-hand man to the Commander, who rules Ixia with an iron fist without ever bending the rules, to take her under his protection, despite having fed her Butterfly Dust to prevent her escape: if she doesn't have the antidote every day, she will die.īut unfortunately for Yelena, she is developing strong magical abilities that she cannot control, which are illegal and a cause for death in Ixia. Not everyone is pleased by Yelena's acceptance of the role of food taster, especially not General Brazell, whose son was killed by Yelena, despite it being in self-defense.

Poison study series