Empire of Sand

Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an Ambhan Empire governor and one of the Amrithi, a group of feared and despised nomads descended from spirits. In conflict with her stepmother, Mehr nonetheless lives a privileged life until she performs a rite that brings a band of mystics to her father's door. They are tools of the Maha, the powerful near immortals who created the empire. Faced with marrying the group's Amrithi mystic, Amun, Mehr sacrifices her freedom for the safety of her father and sister. While the mystics would rather see the Amrithi expunged from the empire, the couple's magic will fulfill the mystics' plans of continuing to extend the Maha's life and rule. With lives and beliefs at stake, Mehr must use her skills and growing abilities to thwart their plan. Familiar tropes such as overthrowing evil and a heroine finding love through adversity are given fresh life through the influences of Indian culture and history on both setting and plot.