Lost Ring of Destiny

Book Two of The Standard Book of Anything Trilogy.

After saving her town from certain destruction, Em Strider is languishing. No one in Brookerby needs her help anymore. Longing to feel useful again, she travels the countryside saving strangers from their unbreakable oaths-despite her friend Gram's reminders that treason is frowned upon.

Gram's warnings prove wise when the Empress summons Em to account for her crimes. Death is the sentence for treason, but the Empress offers an alternative: find and retrieve the legendary ring of the first Emperor before the winter solstice and Em will be pardoned.

During her search for the long-lost ring, Em navigates a deadly maze, joins a mountain colony of magic users, sees the return of an old enemy, and protects an oppressed northern people at risk of having their history eradicated. Meanwhile, the solstice draws ever closer. With time almost up, will Em find the Lost Ring of Destiny? And if she does, will she deliver it to her unjust sovereign-or follow her conscience into open rebellion?