Synopsis
At the palace in the Emperor's City, Princess Mai leads a sheltered life of lavish luxury. However, her life is not only filled with abundance and wealth, but also with loneliness and pain. The Emperor's new wife has banished Mai to a remote part of the castle, where she is surrounded by mute servants who never look her in the eyes – until the day a mysterious squire appears at the door to her chamber. The squire speaks to Mai as if he wants to be her friend, and he seems indifferent to the fact that she doesn’t look like a proper princess should.
The women at the Emperor's court are known for their tiny feet, and it is said that they can dance in a man's palm. But Mai does not dance; she limps at best, and when her lady-in-waiting dresses her in tiny silk shoes, she struggles to hold back the tears. In return, Mai is allowed to participate in her grandmother's tea parties. The dowager empress has discovered that her granddaughter can read people's fates in the tea leaves left at the bottom of a cup, and the realm's noblest ladies flock to attend. But soon, the prophecies start to come true, and the gossip spreads. Why is Mai so good at reading tea leaves? And what do the strange and dark things she sees mean?
Before long, violent events turn Mai’s life upside down, and she is forced to flee for her life and hide deep in the dark forest. But when she wakes again, she finds herself in a bed in a simple house where she has never been before. And around the bed, seven strange children stand watching her...
Option publishers include Italian (Gallucci), rights already sold to Dutch (Clavis) and German (Carlsen)
