The swish of shongi robes on the wooden porch that ringed the inside of the quadrangle of buildings brought Rathany upright immediately, the front legs of her chair thumping hollowly against the porch floor. Looking to her right she saw shongin Madia and the shongin cook walking swiftly toward the shehat's offices in the second building, across from the dormitory. Even though their faces were veiled, she could see their eyes snapping with anger, and momentarily she allowed herself to sense their outrage before closing her mind again. "What have those hooligans done now?" Rathany muttered, watching the shongi as they walked briskly. So begins the story of an orphan girl raised by religious women but looking for her own way in the world. Rathany is blessed, or cursed, with special abilities that frighten some but encourage others to use her for their own ambitions. She dreams of a day when she can have enough power and influence to make those who have treated her wrongly bow down at her feet. With the discovery of a powerful object, Rathany finds herself on her way to what she believes will be fame and fortune with some unlikely companions. On the way she makes just as unlikely discoveries about herself and the world about her.