A novella of 13k words. Emily Dontal is the godborn daughter of The Mother-one of the only godborn children allowed to live in the Barony of Breton. One dark night, she prays to her mother for a child-a godborn child, a sister-to train and teach so that the Church might continue in her absence. But the child she is given in answer to her prayers is not godborn; she comes not from the goddess but from the household of the man who rules the Barony-a man who is hated and feared by all of his citizens, especially Emily Dontal herself. This is a story about the founding of the Empire of Essalieyan.