Edward Blackthorne never intended to step through the carved archway of Heera Mandi. But desire-and empire-rarely ask for permission.
In the velvet shadows of the kotha, he meets Faizaan: barefoot, defiant, courtesan who will not bow, draped in silk and refusal. A flame that will not be owned.
Between them lies everything the British Raj has tried to conquer-and everything it never will.
In a world built on conquest, what happens when two men refuse to be claimed?
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