Empire of Sand

by Tasha Suri

  “I thought you might go with him,” Mehr admitted.

  “I considered it,” said Amun.

  Mehr traced an idle circle in the sand with her foot. She didn’t want to look into his face any longer.

  “I told you,” Mehr said. “I told you that you should do whatever you want to do. You could have gone. Seen the world.”

  “I don’t want to see the world, Mehr.”

  “Don’t stay here for my sake, Amun, that’s all I ask.” She hated how it left her feeling flayed bare, speaking to him so. “Don’t stay just because …”

  “Mehr?”

  “Just because I want you to,” Mehr admitted.

  Amun strode toward her. When Mehr took a step back, shaking her head, he froze.

  “Don’t,” she said.

  “I know you fear what I may say,” Amun said, his careful eyes tracing the contours of her face, reading it as if it were paper. “But I want you to hear me. Will you let me speak, Mehr?”

  Mehr nodded.

  Amun took a tentative step forward. There was only room for breath between them, but he didn’t touch her. He tilted his head, speaking low and soft, his breath against her hair.

  “I was trapped with vows as a child. I was told I would never escape them. So I served and I suffered, and I never allowed myself to dream of anything. Not of freedom, not of family, not of happiness. I accepted my lot.” A deep exhale. “Then you came, and I began to dream again.”

  Mehr looked up at him then. His eyes, oh. The way he looked at her was like a brand to her soul.

  “I imagined what it would be like to court you, if we were free.”

  “I know,” Mehr said, remembering the night when they’d held one another, when they’d made their bond. “I remember.”

  “And now I’m free,” Amun said. “I’m truly free. Because of you.”

  “Because of you,” Mehr cut in, her voice fierce. “You were the one who tried to show me mercy. You were the one who risked your own soul to set me free. Amun, if it weren’t for your courage, the world would still be in chains.”

  “You said you’d let me speak, Mehr,” Amun said mildly.

  “I didn’t promise to let you speak falsehoods.”

  “True.” He looked at her as if she were his moon and stars all at once. “Both of us then. We saved one another. And now, perhaps, I can have my dream.”

  It took Mehr a moment to understand.

  “You want to court me?” she asked.

  “If you’ll allow it,” Amun said.

  “We’re—we’re married. We’re vowed, we—Amun,” Mehr said helplessly. “You don’t need to court me.”

  “But I’d like to,” he said, his gaze clear, his voice steady. “I want to court you every day. I want to choose you and ask you to choose me, and know that we are bound because we have chosen each other. I want to know we are bound because we continue to choose to belong to one another.”

  Mehr raised a hand. Amun took it. He twined his fingers with hers, a touch that made light shiver inside her.

  “I don’t want to see the world,” Amun said. “I want to see our future. I want to see you.”

  She looked down at their interlaced fingers, at their strength and their scars. Her heart ached. Amun had saved her, and she had saved him in return. Mehr had chosen him, over and over again, and Amun had chosen her in return.

  Choices. Choices were sacred, and Mehr had made hers long ago.

  “No more,” she said, her voice shaking. “You’ve courted me enough for today, I think.”

  When he began to pull his hand back, unsure, she held on more tightly.

  “You’ve won me completely, you see,” she said.

  “Ah.” A long exhale. “That’s … good.”

  Mehr laughed. There was the taciturn Amun she knew so well.

  “You can court me again tomorrow. And the day after that. And after that.”

  “And so forth?”

  “Yes,” Mehr said. “I’d like that very much.”

  She looked up at his face. She’d seen the promise of a better future in the daiva and their growing strength, in the growing presence of Amrithi, no longer hidden and afraid. But in Amun’s face she saw something more: a future of love and of kindness. A future spun from the very best of dreams.

  She reached her free hand up and finally pushed back that curl that had so vexed her. She cupped his cheek.

  “Now,” she said, “let me court you.”

  “And tomorrow,” he prompted.

  “And so forth,” Mehr said.

  In response he leaned down to meet her, their hands still twined. Mehr kissed her husband, the man she had chosen and the man who had chosen her in return.

  Amun lifted her up, and Mehr laughed, twining her legs around his waist, utterly weightless with joy.

  “Kiss me again,” she said, and he did. His lips were warm, sweeter than wine. He kissed her fiercely, joy and love pouring from every inch of him, filling her up.

  “I thought you were courting me?” Amun asked, pulling back.

  “I think you’re thoroughly courted,” she said.

  “Do you?”

  “I know so.”

  Mehr touched a fingertip to his lower lip and watched the shiver that ran through him.

  Amun. My heart.

  There was training to do, Mehr thought distantly, and so much work to be done to keep the Amrithi alive. There were unknowable dangers ahead, and nightmares roaming free across the Empire. But whatever lay in the future, Amun would be by her side, steady and strong. Mehr couldn’t be afraid, knowing that.

  “I love you, Amun,” she said softly.

  “And I you.” He met her eyes. “You’re correct, of course. I’m thoroughly courted.” His face was full of light. It wore a look of pure wonder. “Do what you will.”

  She cupped his face in her hands, leaned forward, and did just that.

  The story continues in …

  Realm of Ash

  A novel of the Books of Ambha.

  Keep reading for a sneak peek!

  Acknowledgments

  Writing may be solitary, but publishing is a wonderfully collaborative process. This book wouldn’t exist without the hard work of many people, and I am grateful to all of them. My first thanks must go to my agent, Laura Crockett, who took a chance on me and my book, and has been a marvelous, kind-hearted advocate for my work from day one. Thank you also to the whole fantastic team at Triada US, especially Uwe Stender and Brent Taylor.

  Thank you to my editor, Sarah Guan, who made this a far better book than it would ever have been without her guidance. Thank you also to the rest of Orbit, particularly Tim Holman, Anne Clarke, Ellen Wright, Paola Crespo, Gleni Bartels, Lauren Panepinto, and Lisa Marie Pompilio. Huge thanks also go to the UK Orbit team, especially my lovely UK editor, Jenni Hill, and publicist, Nazia Khatun.

  I am lucky to have a family who have always been supportive of my weird desire to write books. Special thanks must go to my parents: my mum and fearless champion, Anita Luthra Suri, and my dad, Nishant Suri, who passed away a month before I found an agent but always believed I would be a published author one day. This book is dedicated to him.

  Thank you to Alison Barlow for giving me beautiful books to read and for teaching me how on earth taxes work. Heartfelt thanks also to Shekar Bhatia for the wonderful author photo and to Gordana Radich-Pattni, who listened to all my stories for years and years without complaint. I hope you enjoy this one.

  My final acknowledgment goes to my chosen family. Carly, thank you for believing in this book and in me. I couldn’t have done it without you.

  extras

  meet the author

  Shekar Bhatia

  TASHA SURI was born in London to Punjabi parents. She studied English and creative writing at Warwick University and is now a cat-owning librarian in London. A love of period Bollywood films, history, and mythology led her to write South Asian–influenced fantasy. Find her on Twitter: @tashadrink
stea.

  interview

  When did you first start writing?

  I’ve been writing for fun since I was pretty young. Apparently as a kid I had a full-blown tantrum when I learned about full stops, because I was mad no one had told me about them earlier, and now I had to fix all the stories I’d already written because they were wrong. You’ll be happy to know I’ve become a little more relaxed about editing since then.

  I’ve only been writing seriously for publication since leaving university in 2011. I wrote one book that wasn’t very good but taught me a lot, and then I started working on Empire of Sand.

  Who are some of your most significant authorial influences?

  Juliet Marillier, Jacqueline Carey, N. K. Jemisin, Catherynne Valente … They’re all very different from each other, but they’ve all had a huge influence on my writing. Valente’s prose is gorgeous; Jemisin’s books always rip my heart out and make me love it; Marillier’s Sevenwaters Trilogy will always hold a special place in my heart; and Carey somehow manages to make giant, sweeping epics feel deeply personal. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from all of them.

  How did you come up with the idea for Empire of Sand?

  I’ve always wanted to write a fantasy that draws on India’s history and epics and myths. I love Mughal art and architecture, and Mughal-e-Azam—a classic Bollywood film set in the Mughal court—was one of my childhood favorites. So finding inspiration for the setting was easy, really.

  I’m not really sure how the plot and characters came together, but I do remember reading lots of books about the Mughal emperors and being fascinated by the women in their lives: their daughters and mothers and wives, who wielded huge power behind the scenes. The rest of the idea just came together, in its own time, like magic.

  What, if any, research did you do in preparation for writing this book?

  I read lots and lots of books about the Mughal Empire, and read any academic papers I could get my hands on. (When they were actually available to be read at all. Don’t get me started on the open accessibility of academic research …)

  The funny thing about research is that you can do a huge amount of it, and only use the barest fraction of what you find in the final story. I could probably write a thesis on the ways the Ambhan Empire differs from the Mughal Empire, as it ended up deviating in really big ways! But I wouldn’t have been able to create it at all without diving into the intricacies of Mughal court politics and provincial governance, and I definitely wouldn’t have been able to write Empire of Sand without looking at the lives of Mughal women.

  The magic in this book, from the daiva to the dancing of Amrithi rites, is fascinating and unique. How did you develop this magic system?

  Hindu belief and epics had a big influence on the magic system. Amrithi rites and sigils were influenced by Indian classical dance (specifically Bharatanatyam) and by the depiction of the god Shiva creating and destroying the world with dance and cosmic fire, which should sound familiar. Hindu epics are rife with vows made by mortals and immortals that have terrible consequences but can’t be broken, and spirits that aren’t quite gods, so they were a great source of material!

  Honestly though, the magic system started off with me just throwing ideas I thought were cool on the page. It was only later that I realized I’d drawn a lot of inspiration from Hinduism, which isn’t surprising, as I grew up with it.

  A major theme of Empire of Sand is sacrifice: the choice between familial and romantic love, between ambition and community, between different forms of government, etc. What compelled you to write about this?

  I think when characters are put in a position where they have to sacrifice something—when they’re forced to choose between different, huge forces in their lives at a great cost—you get the most powerful conflict and character growth. I love reading stories that force their characters to make sacrifices and difficult choices, so of course I had to make all of that a big part of Empire of Sand.

  Strong female characters are often portrayed as gun-wielding, ass-kicking heroines. However, in Empire of Sand, the protagonist is a young woman whose strength manifests in less overt ways. What were your inspirations for Mehr’s character?

  The Mughal women I read about were a huge influence on Mehr’s character. I actually named her after one of the most powerful women in the Mughal Empire, Nur Jahan, whose birth name was Mehr-un-Nisa. Women at the highest echelons of Mughal society often held huge political and economic power, but as you’d expect in a patriarchal system, they needed to utilize the strength and standing of the men around them to achieve that power. I wanted to look at the kind of strength a woman raised in that world would have—and what kind of weapons she’d have in her arsenal.

  Mehr is marginalized in lots of ways, but she’s also a noblewoman and the daughter of a very powerful man, and because of that she has a strength honed to suit the environment she’s been raised in. Women have historically fought in wars and led armies, and I love reading about women who do kick ass and take names, but it’s been a joy to explore a different kind of strength that’s been no less present—and no less admirable—in history.

  Do you have a favorite scene in this book? Which part was the most difficult to write?

  I love the scene when Mehr meets Elder in the desert, after the Maha’s death. I feel like it captures the awe and magic and otherworldly power of the daiva better than anything else in the book, and it’s a moment of powerful agency for Mehr. I also just really enjoyed writing it!

  The most difficult scene to write was the one right after Hema’s death, when Mehr and Amun consummate the marriage. I really, really, really struggled to write it. I tried to do anything but write it. In the end I had to eat some chocolate biscuits and cry and get it done. As a general writing tip: chocolate biscuits make everything easier.

  What’s one thing about either the world or the characters of Empire of Sand that you loved but couldn’t fit into the story?

  Oh, there was so much about the world I couldn’t fit into the story, because Empire of Sand was tightly focused on Irinah. I would have loved to show more of the wider Empire, but I’ll get to explore some of the other provinces in the next book, which I’m really excited about.

  The one thing I would have loved to explore further in Empire of Sand is Suren and Ruhi’s past relationship. Their idealism, their meeting of cultures, their doomed romance … it’s all writer catnip. But it wouldn’t have served the story to give their relationship any more attention than it had, sadly.

  Empire of Sand is the first book in the series. What’s in store for us in future books?

  There’s definitely going to be one more book in the series. That book will explore the consequences of the big, world-changing events at the end of Empire of Sand. The world is returning to balance, but that’s hardly going to have pleasant consequences for the Empire, or for its people. The daiva are spreading across the Empire, growing stronger, and the nightmares aren’t gone either.

  The books in the series should all stand on their own and give different insights into the world and its magic, but the next book will bring back Arwa as a grown-up, so I hope it will be extra satisfying for anyone who read and enjoyed Empire of Sand.

  If you could spend a day with one of your characters, who would it be and what would you do?

  Oh, this one is easy. I’d spend the day with Amun, and I’d demand piggyback rides. He’d be too nice to refuse! Then I’d feed him cake and make him tea, because my god, that boy needs some cake and tea.

  Lastly, we have to ask: If you could have any magical power, what would you choose?

  I’ve thought about this long and hard, and I’ve decided that I’d choose to have the power to make cats do my bidding. It would make my day-to-day life a lot easier, as my cat is a tiny disobedient hellspawn. Also, if anyone said to me, “It’s like herding cats,” I could say, “No, herding cats is very easy, actually.” It’s perfect.

  if you enjoyed

  EMPIRE
OF SAND

  look out for

  REALM OF ASH

  The Books of Ambha

  by

  Tasha Suri

  Some believe the Ambhan Empire is cursed. But Arwa doesn’t simply believe it—she knows it’s true.

  Widowed by the infamous, unnatural massacre at Darez Fort, Arwa was saved only by the strangeness of her blood—a strangeness she had been taught all her life to suppress. She offers up her blood and service to the imperial family and makes common cause with a disgraced, illegitimate prince who has turned to forbidden occult arts to find a cure to the darkness hanging over the Empire.

  Using the power in Arwa’s blood, they seek answers in the realm of ash: a land where mortals can seek the ghostly echoes of their ancestors’ dreams. But the Emperor’s health is failing, and a terrible war of succession hovers on the horizon, not just for the imperial throne, but for the magic underpinning Empire itself.

  To save the Empire, Arwa and the prince must walk the bloody path of their shared past, through the realm of ash and into the desert, where the cause of the Empire’s suffering—and its only chance of salvation—lie in wait. But what they find there calls into question everything they’ve ever valued … and whether they want to save the Empire at all.

  CHAPTER ONE