Fifty years have passed since the technological forces of Earth defeated the mancers of Asparis. Still a junior partner among spacefaring species, the human race seeks equality, but in the process threatens the influence of its neighbors. Gaining her captaincy by inheriting a trader ship from her grandfather, Emily Pierce is quickly written off as incompetent, even by some members of her own crew. When events conspire to place her in the middle of a race to a mysterious world, she finds herself pursued by powerful enemies. The course to Selparis is a trial of fire, but also one of fascinating discovery, and along the way Emily learns of her own hidden talents. If she can survive the tug-of-war between her demure Eldrandii employer, a manipulative human commander, a dispossessed Asparii chancellor, and a pack of hostile mages, she could come away with the long buried secrets unearthed on the besieged world. Her failure would leave her among the thousands of bodies lining the way of the victors.