How could the City of the Magicians, avowed pacifists, embroil themselves in a warriors' battle to the south? For the nefarious 5th School it's the lure of becoming an imperial capital; for Purdu, the Barbarian leader, it's proof of his divinity; for others, it's an exciting adventure. Back in the City, Shoan, Council Strategist, urges Lalya to make a public repudiation of the 5th School. She would love to, but Sas warns it is premature. Hyur, suffering from a curse sickness, tells anyone who will listen that his venomous sword is "returning to the place of its making"--but he's mad, so no one believes him. Gleswea, recovering from a knife attack, is being coached into a position of safety, but her chance comment wrecks the plans and puts her on a show trial for heresy. Gamblers set the stakes high that she'll be found guilty and sentenced to death by rending. Sas, disillusioned with his part in Shoan's manipulations, puzzles at a shadowy phenomenon drawing the City towards an unseen destiny. Are the underpinnings of existence--the sentience of Reality itself--beginning to show? Unexpectedly, the battle in the south unleashes a second--for the City's very soul!Quickening concludes the City of the Magician's first trilogy, where complacency and compromise have brought Citizens to the cliff edge of change. They ask themselves, Do I slow, stop, step away . . . or jump?