Shroudling

Book excerpt: Becoming a Diplomat is all Naia has ever wanted. Diplomats spend their lives brokering peace and protecting the oppressed. They’re highly respected. They get to travel the known world. The problem is, Diplomats aren’t supposed to be angry, and Naia’s angry all the time. Fearing she’s about to be expelled from the university, Naia vows to find something that will prove her value as a Diplomat. She delves deep into unknown parts of the great university library, where she encounters what might be a spirit—or might be a figure from myth. To unravel the mystery, she enlists the help of her best friend, Zolin, who is on his own quest to find where he fits in the Diplomatic Corps. Little do they know that the Amethirian civil war is about to reach their island home of Ranarr. And what Naia and Zolin discover will create ripples that spread from Ranarr to Amethir and beyond.