Please read In Recent Years: Introduction before reading this post.
Year 1479
From her throne at the Eye of Maga, Queen Zanna the Just rules her city and the villages in the surrounding region. She is counselled by many: Rel, her advisor; Pralla, the chief Priestess of Maga; Whiteleaf, a foreign ambassador from Tal’lashar; and Sergeant Kieb of the Crimson Highway. When an ambassador from the southern harbour of Varravar seeks out Zanna’s help with their ailing High Priest, Zanna refuses. The Eye of Maga—the namesake lake where the goddess Maga offers her miraculous healing gifts—is not to be tainted by someone such as the scheming leader of far-away Varravar.
Soon, Queb Tylan of Tal’lashar arrives in Maga and attempts to curry favour with the bachelorette Queen. When citizens from the town of Kykai arrive in Zanna’s court seeking aid against bandits, the Queb from Tal’lashar watches to see how she will respond. Zanna decides to venture to Kykai with her soldiers and free it from the insurgents—and Tylan joins her.
The battle in Kykai is fierce; though Zanna, the warrior-queen, has little issue, Tylan is slain in the melee. Upholding her title, Zanna insists that the bandits be brought back to face trial, much to the dismay of her citizens and advisors. Several of her noble court attempt to convince her to execute the prisoners, among them Lady Marna, Lord Reeth, and Lord Eilar, as well as Sergeant Kieb. Of course, Whiteleaf departs at once, indignant that the killer of a lord from his hometown has gone unavenged.
When next Zanna sets out for her raft over the healing waters of the Eye of Maga, she is followed by two other rafts—assassins! The fight is one-sided, and Zanna soon sustains multiple injuries. In a last ditch effort to survive, she rolls off her raft into the embrace of the waters of Maga… for better or for worse.