The Star-Touched Queen

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi, 2016 St. Martin's Griffin

     Princes Mayavati was born under a dangerous sign - in Bharata your horoscope can determine your entire life. Maya is the well-educated daughter of the Raja, but her horoscope dictates that she be wedded to Death leading her superstitious family to blame her for any bad fortune or il luck. Maya takes the opportunity to immerse herself in her studies and becomes the most educated of the royal children - even climbing the rafters above her father's councilroom to learn statecraft.
    When the Raja risks alienating his people through the marriage of his death-touched daughter he indicates a special surprise for the potential bridegrooms - Maya will meet the princes then commit suicide neg
ating the laws of hospitality and initiating warfare at Bharata's capital.
    The Raja isn't the only man trying to subvert old customs: the suitors bring their own armies to the wedding and in Trojan Style they bring the war to Maya's home. With her father's command ringing in her ears the princess is captivated by the handsome, hooded man who whisks her away with the promise of a kingdom where she will rule as his equal.
    Maya is infatuated at the chance to be important; she follows her new husband away from the massacre of her home through the mythical Night Bazaar. The festival of mystery and magic is a sort of in-between where Day and Night, good and evil, mundane and magical coexist in balance and anything is for sale. All the stories Maya had ever studied were real at the Night Bazaar, but the mystery of her husband begins when the creatures respond to him deferentially.
     At their new home, Akaran, Maya becomes more and more intrigued by Amar - while he shares her room, Maya's new husband doesn't insist or even suggest they take advantage of their married state and the feelings growing between them. He disappears before she wakes and returns after she falls asleep. The palace occupies Maya's attention: a voice calls to her and compels the new queen to find it. When she discovers a familiar nymph claiming to be an old friend the mystery of her husband and why he brought Maya back to his home drives Maya to stretch beyond the limits set before her.
    Maya begins to doubt her place and eventually the nymph casts her out from Akaran and her throne beside the man she has come to love. To find her way home Mayavati must complete a quest to review and sever the ties holding her to her mortal magic-less life and find Amar and her throne in Akaran.
    The seventeen-year-old princess is captivated with the magic and possibilities before her. The horoscope which dictated her growing-up no longer has control over her life and she has united with a man who claims to want her as his equal in a world where women are not considered full persons. When it all comes crashing down Maya struggles to rediscover her confidence and fight for what she wants.
     Aimed at young adult readers The Star Touched Queen tells the epic journey of a young woman with a destiny who changes the world to make a doomsday prophecy into a future filled with love and growth. The story is heavily influenced by Indo-Asian mythology and politics. Maya's story will be followed by her younger sister's in A Crown of Wishes in 2017.