It's springtime in Monfort, and unrest is stirring everywhere. Shops are closing, trust in the Crown is faltering, and support for Pon Lanali's anti-magic rhetoric is growing by the day. But for Kaedrich Mannly, it's all background noise: between classes at the academy of arms, work, independent studies, and a new batch of friends, there's little time for such concerns-or, mercifully, for thoughts of Praxis Fellows to creep back in. The last thing that Kaedrich needs is an extra complication.

So of course it's now, with the Academy Trials coming up, that Praxis appears unexpectedly....

For Praxis Fellows, greatness has always been a given. But life doesn't always go according to plan, and now she finds herself half a world away from where she started. Banned from using magic, employed by the son of a railroad baron to realize a dead man's dreams, Praxis's life has become a sort of living death.

Kaedrich Mannly has never done anything of consequence. As the newest member of the household staff of Brindlewood Hall, his role is simple: stay out of sight and do as he's told. It's a far cry from the dreams of his childhood, when he and his twin would rule their...

Kaedrich Mannly always wanted to be a hero, and now that's certainly happened. So the question is, what comes next? According to Praxis Fellows, the answer is obvious: get back to work. With a shift in Praxis's approach to tackling the puzzle of Orange Rail Lines' engine designs, and with Kaedrich's steady help, things have been going better than ever and the two of them have settled into a comfortable routine.

But all of that changes when a woman appears, a woman who claims to be Praxis herself from twenty-two years in the future. Bringing a tale of tragedy and doom, she swears...