Terhese has always wanted to go to the Academy to become a Pebble Pincher. But she worries she’s a magicless Slate because she’s never been able to pinch a Pebble without it backfiring. At the Academy Ball, her worries grow to real fears when she finds she is not lacking magic at all but possesses the same higher magic the late Ràej had.

The Slates had liberated the people of Omneth from the tyrannical rule of the Ràej, all but eliminating their higher magic, making its use punishable by death. Now, Terhese has to navigate the Academy while keeping her true magic hidden. Can she trust her new friends, including the man who seems to good to be true?