SOLVED!: woman rules a planet and must have a daughter to succeed her but first two children are boys. [s]

[Ls]

I think this is a series. The woman is the ruler of a planet. She must secure a female heir. Her first two children are boys. Eventually she does have a daughter. She has strange rules she must follow like she isn't allowed to leave the planet or cut her hair. Some global catastrophie happens and she has to leave or die so she cuts her hair and leaves. At some point she is dead or only believed to be dead and the story follows her daughter. Her daughter flies a space ship. I can't remember what her occupation is I think they might opperate outside the law. She has a friend who ends up being the ruler of another world. They have this ceremony where they take you to the top of the highest building and a crowd of people decide wether you will be accepted as the ruler or not. I believe the position is called "The Highest" The crowd is usually paid off as to who they will choose. So if you are brought up and proclaimed the highest they toss you off the tower to your death and bring up the next person. Her friend is brought up and the people do not accept him but he manages to escape and is not killed. It turns out that you don't have to be accepted by the crowed. Even those not accepted are recorded as having been in the line of "The Highest" throughout history. So since he was chosen and presented and servived he is now "The Highest." The daughter eventually proclaims herself queen of her people even though they lost their planet. I can't remember how it all ends. But somebody tries to assasinate her. She also has a love interest but I don't remember much about him. She and her two brothers each have a different father. The oldest Brother is brawny and tough. The second brother is physically small but he has powers. He is an adept. I can't quite remember what they do exactly but he has abilities of some sort.

[Kerry]

It doesn't completely fit, but it might be the Mageworlds series by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald.

There was originally a trilogy about the daughter, Beka (The Price of the Stars, Starpilot's Grave and By Honor Betray'd) and later a prequel was written about the mother, Perada (The Gathering Flame: The Prequel to Mageworlds. There are others as well.

I don't remember a bit about "The Highest", but I don't remember the prequel as well as Beka's series, and it sounds from your post like that part would be in The Gathering Flame: The Prequel to Mageworlds.

[Ls]

Yay! Thanks so much I'm sure that's right because all the names sound right.

[Leela4]

Those are the right books all right. First Ls referred to "The Gathering Flame". Then "The Price of the Stars"/"Starpilot's Grave"/"By Honor Betray'd". The ceremony is from The Long Hunt. Then "By Honor Betray'd" again.

(Actually it's Beka's son who becomes the Highest. He has a similar name to his father, and one of the viewpoint characters is a young woman, so it's easy to get the characters mixed up when trying to remember them.)

I love "Starpilot's Grave"/"By Honor Betray'd". The rest are merely okay.

> He is an adept. I can't quite remember what they do exactly but he has abilities of some sort.

Think of 'em as Jedi.