Book excerpt: Life hasn't suddenly become easy because Raneh's now the Keeper. Her life has been interrupted, and she struggles to pick up the pieces. The world has been interrupted, too. Magic no longer functions, and the food, travel, and health it provided have also vanished. There's nothing to help except the new system Raneh created, and nobody knows how to use it. Teaching it will be the work of a lifetime. Work that Raneh's willing to do. But the Ruler has a very different idea of what a Keeper should be doing.