Steel & Spellfire

Gr 9 Up–In the city of Valora, magic is feared and must be controlled. According to the Mage Laws of Hesperid, every mage must be bonded to a patron, one that is freely chosen or assigned, for fear that they might grow too powerful and become too dangerous. Pandora Small, a young Ingenue, is secretly one such mage. Raised by a shrouded patron from whom she has escaped, Pandora is secretly a powerful mage whose magic is so strong that if anyone finds out, she will surely face a punishment of certain death in a steel box. Queen’s Guard Ellis Beacon, a mage finder, senses her abilities, but inexplicably chooses not to turn her in. Despite Pandora’s ongoing distrust of others, Pandora and Ellis become unlikely allies as she tries to discover the identity of her patron, and the two must work together to figure out who is killing other Ingenues with magic seemingly as powerful as Pandora’s. Characters cue white.