Margaret Ball: Flameweaver

Just as little did the wisewomen of Gandhara expect their system of protection to begin to fail them after milennia of effective defense. But the Russians' new weapons don't seem to care much about magic, and the Gandharans realize they must fight fire with fire. Tamai, who has never been able to control her magical powers sufficiently to join the wisewomen, is expendable; she is sent on a mission south into the Raj to acquire the fabulous weapons known as Martini-Henry rifles. Little did the wisewomen expect the fables of the Raj to be real...