The Five Hundred Kingdoms

A series of fantasy books with shades of romance. The books are set in a realm (the Five Hundred Kingdoms) which operates according to the laws of a Background Magic Field known as the Tradition. When circumstances begin to resemble a plotline from a fairy tale, fable, fireside tale, morality play, or even a bawdy bar song, the Tradition tries to make that narrative play out… no matter how it ends or how the participants might feel about that.