Margaret Ball: Changeweaver

For most, this magic is an everyday thing: light a fire, lift a weight, summon an errant child, chastise a man. But for a few it is more. Every once in a while a girl child is born with a vast potential for wild magic, magic too strong for her to control alone. The best thing for such a girl is early marriage and the children that help her to ground her magic, by keeping her connected with the past and the future of the clan. But what if she is unable to bear children?

Such a one is Tamai, whose very existence makes the rest of Gandhara acutely uncomfortable. Her fate seems to be exile, to serve Gandhara as best she can in the outer world. Already she has managed to convince the British to defend Gandhara against the encroaching Russian powers. But now she must pay the price the British demand: help them penetrate the demon-infested desert that has for ages secluded the fabled empire of Chin behind a veil of mystery.