This was the start of a series, but sadly Edwards died shortly after this was published and either never had a literary executor or the others in the series never existed in any meaningful sense.

Eldrie is a wandering healer, living by her wits and sword as much as her healing skills. She wanders the petty kingdoms of the Eastern seaboard of her world. She is caught up in a war in one of the kingdoms and in escaping it, 'acquires' an armsman, Huard, who subsequently becomes her lover. Wandering to the west, she attempts to find a healing mage in order to learn that skill. In the western deserts, the stumbles across such a person - a young and beautiful woman, Mennefer. Huard transfers his affections to Mennefer; it seems that Eldrie is the bastard daughter of the King of Maritiene and Huard insists on treating her as a princess first and person second. She eventually consents to return to Maritiene, taking an entourage with her - Huard and Mennefer, and an innkeeper and his wife who want to travel. The innkeeper is in fact a cartographer.

On her return to Maritiene, she discovers that the Heir is dead in a hunting accident, and her younger legitimate brother is now Heir. However, there is a problem - he's gay and doesn't have the King's Gifts (magical psychic powers) which Eldrie does. In fact, there's some doubt whether her brother is in fact the King's son, the Queen having taken a lover by the time he was conceived (although the boy was acknowledged by the king). She is now needed to take up the duties of a Royal Princess, including an arranged marriage.

Compared to Edwards' other books, this is obviously the first of a series. There's a lot unexplained, and the ending is very unsatisfactory for a stand-alone. I also had issues with some of the plot lines, especially the way her relationship with Huard played out. It read to me as scene-setting for a sequel which ended up never seeing the light of day because of her death. It also struck me that 16 years was too long for her to have spent wandering to suddenly (apparently out of the blue) try and find a healer mage to learn from. Admittedly, she did not become a healer until she left Maritiene aged 16, but even so...

I won't say Recommended, but it's worth reading if you like Edwards' other works; the others work better as they're stand-alones.