Sherwood Smith 
Senrid 

Senrid is a story of swashbuckling boys and girls, royal stakes, mysterious villains, high adventure and strange magic, in the tradition of Lloyd Alexander’s Westmarkand Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief. In the novel, teen-aged king Leander Tlennen-Hess has barely ruled Vasande Leror a year when he and his step-sister Kitty (or Princess Kyale, as she wishes to be known) are surprised by two visitors. The first is an adventure-loving girl, Faline, who helps Leander defend his tiny kingdom from invasion by the menacing warrior kingdom Marloven Hess, using only imagination and a bit of magic. The second visitor is a nice, friendly boy… who asks too many questions about the recent defeat of those evil Marlovens. The nice, friendly visitor turns out to be Senrid, king of Marloven Hess. But Senrid is king in name only. His Uncle Tdanerend, the regent, holds power and Senrid must prove himself to be sufficiently strong by abducting for execution the two kids who thwarted the invasion. The only way to save them is to enter the stronghold of the enemy, in flimsy disguise…