First History Series by Mary Gentle

Born a true hermaphrodite, Ilario has lived as the king's freak in the Iberian kingdom of Tarraconensis. All Ilario wants is to be one of the first - and best - Renaissance painters. In order to do so, Ilario must embark on a quest to escape the wrath of the court.

The dramatic conclusion to Ilario: The Lion's Eye!Fleeing a surprise treacherous murder attempt, the former King's Freak and would-be painter Ilario has run to Carthage, the city-state under perpetual darkness, in search of freedom... moreThe dramatic conclusion to Ilario: The Lion's Eye!Fleeing a surprise treacherous murder attempt, the former King's Freak and would-be painter Ilario has run to Carthage, the city-state under perpetual darkness, in search of freedom. But strange plots are afoot, and a tenuous, complicated alliance with a bookseller-turned-spy will lead Ilario from the shrouded land into tense negotiations and intrigues in seductive, mercurial Venice, from a fraught return to Iberia to a final confrontation with family . . . and destiny. less