As a Keeper in training, Egey Bashi makes it his priority to discover hidden talents and help people fully realize their abilities. But when he rescues a boy from certain death, he find himself out of his league. The boy has a Majat-level talent for weapons. The Keepers send for a Diamond Majat to test him, and on arrival, Egey Bashi is thrown into events where his own resolve to be a Keeper will be sorely tested. "The Majat Testing" is a 7,000-word story set in the world of the Majat Code, a distant prequel to Anna Kashina's "Blades of the Old Empire".

Kara is a mercenary – a Diamond warrior, the best of the best, and a member of the notorious Majat Guild. When her tenure as protector to Prince Kythar comes to an end, custom dictates he accompany her back to her Guild to negotiate her continued protection. But when they arrive they discover that the Prince’s sworn enemy, the Kaddim, have already paid the Guild to engage her services – to capture and hand over Kythar, himself. A warrior brought up to respect both duty and honour, what happens when her sworn duty proves dishonourable?

Kara has achieved something that no Majat has ever managed – freedom from the Guild! But the Black Diamond assassin Mai has been called back to face his punishment for sparing her life. Determined to join his fight or share his punishment, Kara finds herself falling for Mai. But is their relationship – and the force that makes their union all-powerful – a tool to defeat the overpowering forces of the Kaddim armies, or a distraction sure to cause the downfall of the Majat?

Defeated by the Majat forces, Nimos and the other Kaddim Brothers retreat to their secret fortress in the southern mountains. Nimos knows that the Majat s victory is only temporary: during the flight, he managed to place a mark on Kara, one of the top-ranked Diamond Majat. His mind magic would now allow him to use this mark to confer her fighting skill to the Kaddim warriors and turn her loyalties to their side. The new Majat Guildmaster, Mai, is planning a march against the Kaddim. His key ally, Prince Kyth Dorn, is instrumental in these plans: Kyth s magic gift can protect the Majat against the Kaddim mind control powers. But Mai and Kyth are having trouble getting over their rivalry for Kara's affections—even after they realize that this rivalry is the least of their worries, at least for the moment. Something about Kara is not right...