Chapter 5 Summary

The next day, dressed in finery Sandry made for them, the four mages go to the castle. A herald announces them using their correct titles - Clehame Sandrilene fa Toren; Viynain Briar Moss; Viymeses Daja Kisubo; and lastly Trisana Chandler. They take out and display the medallions they'd kept hidden. Courtiers watch their entrance, and Daja notices most of them are young men, all keeping an eye on the Empress. Bidisa Rizuka enters with a gift from the Yanjing emperor that the Empress wants Sandry to look at. Sandry looks closely, impressed by the silk threads twined to make new colors. She is about to touch it when her instincts shriek a warning. She uses her night light crystal to look more closely, and then notices a second layer containing pincers that attach themselves to magic. She yanks her power free, realizing that...