2014 Ruritanian fantasy short story. Before the events of Daughter of
Mystery, Barbara attends the opera while her master the Baron is
away.
This is the story of Barbara's brief association with Jeanne de
Cherdillac. Normally I'd recommend a short stand-alone piece as an
introduction to a series, but in this case I don't think it really
does stand alone, at least not with full effectiveness. Certainly, the
experienced speculative fiction reader will be able to work out how
the important parts of the world work at least well enough not to be
lost, but there won't be the emotional resonance that knowing the
fullness of Barbara's situation would provide.
And I don't think having read this would aid in the understanding of
Daughter of Mystery either; for me it was best appreciated as a
flashback after that book, and a reminder that Jeanne is a protagonist
in the next one.
That said, considered as a flashback, it's rather charming, not to
mention a welcome return to the hothouse atmosphere of bored rich
people with nothing to fill their days but gossip (and a few who would
much rather do something).
Freely available from the
author.