The Will of the Empress is the sequel to Tamora Pierce's The Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens quartets. It focuses on the lives of Sandry, Daja, Tris, and Briar as they navigate life as young adult mages in the treacherous royal court of Namorn. This is the first of the Circle novels to place its characters in romantic relationships, and a great deal of Daja's internal conflict in the novel centers around her relationship with the empress's seamstress Rizu. In this world of Tamora Pierce's, however, there are no societal restrictions regarding gender or sexuality, and same-sex couples are thought of no differently than straight couples. Rather, the tension results from divided loyalties, as Daja and her friends come into conflict with the empress.