Child of the Mist (Gem of the Galaxy Series)

Juilan Pranss is a lowly government employee on a space-faring planet. Or is she? After she's spirited from a besieged spaceliner and taken to a distant planet, Juilan suddenly isn't sure. Her handsome rescuer, Joddie Ferstan, is certain she is the answer to all the galaxy's problems. But his plans seem dangerous.

When she flees him, she comes under the tutelage of Trenner Curembac, a moody, driven outcast. With doubt and danger at every turn, Juilan learns incredible truths about her background and the world into which she has been forced.

Once she accepts the astounding realities, she must evade her psychotic half-brother and handle the centuries-old Evincor - an indomitable gemstone - in a ceremony to make her the culture's leader. But the ceremony could cause her death.