In the Kingdom of Espanglandya, some lucky few are born with one of the fifteen magic Powers. If so endowed, they're expected to use that power in service to the people.
When Lanoya, an orphan living wild in her village, is accused of theft and taken away to endure the King's justice, she knows nothing of how to live among others. The appearance of Lord Alon, one of the teachers of Powers, at the king's court seems to save Lanoya from the dungeon...but it throws her into a world she's completely unprepared to live in. There are rules she never learned, and nobody will explain. She's even expected to sleep in the dark time and stay awake all day!
All the teachers are eager to test her abilities, and they talk about her becoming one of them, when all Lanoya wants is to be left alone to create her own kind of art, and find her place in the world.