The war is over, but a new world is fighting to be born. The Allied Lands exist in name only, with powerful kings throwing off the shackles of the alliance, powerful magicians scheming to go their own way and revolutionaries fighting for freedom, democracy, and a chance to stride into a brave new world. On a peace mission, desperately trying to hammer out a settlement that will keep the radicals and reactionaries from starting yet another civil war, Emily is attacked by Marah, a young woman rescued by her enigmatic master and turned into a living weapon to start the chaos. Seeing something of herself in the girl, Emily takes her as an apprentice, both to give her a better chance at life and to use her to track down her master, who appears to have plans of his own...