Book excerpt: The hereditary rulers of Sherath have psychic powers that can bring great good or evil to their people. When the Makra Theora murders her father and seizes his throne, her sister, the Makra Choria, raises an army, captures her sibling, and removes the "Gift" from both of them. Then Choria tries to undo the damage that her sister has done to Sherath and the surrounding states--and to fix Theora herself, if that's possible. "A fantasy world of great beauty, beautifully realized by a master writer"--Robert Reginald.