Born and raised on the decks of a royal naval warship, Quentin knows only a life full of rough waters and salt spray. His father, a dutiful captain to the Regent, took pity on the family of a fallen sailor, taking in his young son as his own and raising him up in the way of the sea. It became evident, even as a young boy, that Quentin had a way of finding things. Their ship would sail into new harbors and, like he’d walked foreign lands and cities before, Q would guide the seamen to safe taverns, pubs, markets. He could find your lost watch, your cheating partner, even that sock that got lost last time the laundry went to hang…

He shadowed many of the men on the ship, learning the trade and soaking up knowledge, but where he spent the most time? The crow’s perch – elbow to elbow with the ship’s old navigator until the old man passed in his sleep to the sound of calm seas. Taking up the helm, he became the ship’s map-maker, navigator, living compass – able to read the waves better than any man on any fleet.

Quentin has an Old Gift - a simple term used by the Regent to describe the magics of the land that were exterminated by fearful and powerful leaders before. And power hungry, the Regent in his quest to overcome his border countries’ lands, has put out a warrant. Find those with the Gift, ascertain them – and bring them back to the palace. There are only six magic threads left in Solastra, and when one of the Gifted dies? The gift moves – unknowing and unsuspecting – to a new user. No one knows how many of them truly remain.

Quentin’s father covers for his abilities – but unfortunately, the Regent sends spies aboard all the ships… a naval captain means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Overnight, the fleet finds the ship’s captain dead, murdered violently on the decks, and their navigator gone. He’s dragged to the castle, imprisoned, questioned, tortured, all for the sake of determining his abilities, and when they do…

He’s utilized for war, treated like the Regent’s most favored little pet. Collared and leashed, made to look at maps and find quiet, safe ways across enemy lines, used to intimidate and coerce enemy factions to give up their fights. A well of information, Quentin can take one look at a soldier and make a verbal blueprint of their fleet, the ways in and out of their camp, the way to the soldier’s home, even, should the threat be necessary.

But tricky, and a man made of the sea, Quentin plays a long game. He makes fake maps, with discrepancies that can be overlooked as coincidence, crafts lies about locations and homesteads until he’s able to lead the Regent himself into a trap – guiding his troops to a supposed safe haven, which in fact is surrounded by enemy forces and lets them be torn asunder.