The Protector is ruling the Empire with a protective but iron hand, crushing any who oppose her. Sometimes she needs help and as "payment" for that help she promised the abbott of the Grand Monastery one of her children. And so the twins Mokoya and Akeha are born. This novella is the story of their life.

It is also a story about prophecy (likely self-fulfilling) versus free-will, personal choices in a world where gender is fluid (everyone is genderless their/they until they decide to become one or the other or remain "unconfirmed", to identify with a gender at an early age is unusual), a story of magic (the Tensor magic of the 5 natures that could do with a little more definition - I have hopes for the sequel), technology (guns, and machines, some powered by magic, some not), myth and religion.

I enjoyed this fast moving plot that covers several decades in a few short pages. The twins are compelling characters and the world described is sprawling and full of potential. Akeha's personal quest for freedom intersects with the larger issues of the empire in a way that made it hard to put down the book.

I'll definitely read the sequel because this world is only hinted at and yet already fascinating.