From publicity material: Set in an Elizabethan-era fantasy world, The Queen's Bastard follows the path of Belinda Primrose, the queen's bastard--the illegitimate daughter of Lorraine, first queen to set on the Aulunian throne. Religion has ripped apart the old world order, and with churches vying for power alongside prices and queens, Lorraine must defend her throne against those who would wrest it away. She selects her most valuable weapon: Belinda, the daughter she has never acknowledged, trained from childhood in the covert art of assassination.

Now, fluent in languages and cold-blooded enough to take lives when she must, Belinda is able to take on any persona that will allow her to infiltrate the inner circles of her mother's enemies. But her spying takes a very different twist when she discovers her birthright has gifted her with magical powers her mother never knew--powers that enable her to attract the love of handsome young Prince Javier, whose throne her mother both fears and desires. And, Belinda wonders--for the first time--whether she wants to seize power of her own.

(Source: Del Rey)