Every town in the kingdom of Ansel has a storyteller, a man who weaves threads of magic into stories to share with the men of the community-and only the men, for in Ansel, women are forbidden from learning to read. Elbon doesn't know why Storyteller chose him as an apprentice. After all, he has no family, no friends, and not much talent for hearing the words woven into the colorful threads strung on Storyteller's magic harp. Still, Elbon...