Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden (read my book .TXT) 📕

Sneha Bolisetty, thank you so much for your advice, suggestions, and continued support.

To Katherine Pucciariello, I so appreciate your beta read on this book. Your excitement for it was infectious.

To Peter Brett, thank you for believing in Stealing Thunder enough to blurb it, and thank you for the countless hours of hand-holding and advice sharing over the last eighteen months. You have made the transition from first-time author to second-time author so much less painful than it would have been otherwise.

To Brigid Kemmerer, Kerry Kletter, Rob Hart, E. E. Knight, Myke Cole, Anita Kushwaha, and so many others in the literary community who helped to signal boost Stealing Thunder in the midst of a pandemic, I can’t thank you enough for your retweets and your enthusiasm. It really meant the world to me.

To my incredible editor, Kristine Swartz, thank you for bearing with me on rewriting the entire novel in the edits phase. I know that must have been a lot of extra reading for you, but I’m really grateful you gave me the freedom to do that.

To my brilliant publicist, Alexis Nixon, from meeting me on a street corner for New York Comic Con to arranging appearances online during COVID-19, you have given me so many opportunities that I never imagined I would get. Thanks so much!

To Jessica Plummer and the rest of my marketing team, I can’t thank you enough for handling the advertising side of things, which I’m definitely not the best at. It has been a huge stress relief to have you working with me, and I really appreciate all that you have done for Stealing Thunder, and all that you will do for Gifting Fire.

To my agent, Andrea Somberg—you are the best! I really appreciate your always having the time for me when I need you, giving me fabulous career advice, and giving me this opportunity to put these books out in the world.

To Deepti Gupta, thank you for being Razia’s voice in Stealing Thunder. Your support for my work has been so tremendous and so appreciated.

Lastly, thank you to everyone at Penguin Random House for believing in this project and helping put it out in the world. It’s been an incredible opportunity to actually see my own books on store shelves for the first time in my life, and I’m so grateful to have experienced it because of your belief in my work.

GLOSSARY

PEOPLE

Ahmed Shah (Ah-med Shah) [starting off easy]—sultan of Mahisagar

Ammi (Uh-me)—name for Varsha; it’s a word literally meaning “mom,” sometimes used by hijras when addressing their gurus

Arjun Agnivansha (Ahr-joon Ugh-nee-vuhn-shuh)—devastatingly handsome prince of Bikampur, and Razia’s chief love interest

Arvind Singh (Ahr-vind Seeng)—son of Govind Singh, a noble of Bikampur, and a skilled zahhak rider

Asma (Uss-muh)—wife of Ahmed Shah and sultana of Mahisagar

Disha (Dee-shuh)—Razia’s sister from the dera

Firangi (Fih-rung-ee)—a foreigner from the west

Gayatri Agnivansha (Gai-ah-tree Ugh-nee-vuhn-shuh)—Arjun’s mother and the maharani of Bikampur

Govind Singh (Go-vihnd Seeng)—a noble of Bikampur who possesses an overly large golden peacock statue

Haider (Hay-dur)—crown prince of Safavia

Hina Talpur (Hee-nuh Tahl-poor)—rightful jama of Zindh

Humayun (Hoo-mah-yoon)—Razia’s father, and the sultan of Nizam

Jai (Jive without the v)—a eunuch servitor at the palace in Bikampur

Jaskaur (Jahs-kohr)—Razia’s sister from the dera

Javed Khorasani (Jah-vayd Kor-ah-sah-nee)—subahdar of Zindh, and an enemy of Udai Agnivansha

Karim Shah (Kuh-reem [but roll your r a bit] Shah)—son of Ahmed Shah, prince of Mahisagar, and all-around jerk

Lakshmi (Luck-shmee)—Razia’s little sister in the dera, a former prince of Kolikota, and a brilliant zahhak rider

Nuri (Nur-ree)—one of Hina’s celas

Pir Tahir (Peer Tuh-heer)—a local religious cleric in Shikarpur

Rashid (Ruh-sheed)—the younger of Razia’s two cousins, and son of her uncle Shahrukh

Razia Khan (Rah-zee-uh Khan)—former crown prince of the sultanate of Nizam, now the subahdar of Zindh

Sakina (Suh-kee-nuh)—a famous jama of Zindh, for whom Hina’s zahhak is named

Sakshi (Sahk-shee)—Razia’s older sister in the dera, and the finest sitar player in the world

Salim (Suh-leem)—Razia’s deadname, used by jerks

Shahrukh (Shah-rookh)—Razia’s uncle, and a powerful subahdar

Shiv (Shihv)—a eunuch servitor at the palace in Bikampur (the nice one)

Sikander (Sick-under)—the master-at-arms of Nizam, and one of Razia’s least favorite people

Sunil Kalani (Su-neel Kuh-lah-nee)—a local emir of Zindh

Tamara (Tah-muh-ruh)—crown princess of Khevsuria

Tariq (Tah-rick)—the older of Razia’s two cousins, and the subahdar of Lahanur

Udai Agnivansha (Oo-day Ugh-nee-vuhn-shuh)—maharaja of Bikampur, and father of Arjun

Varsha (Vahr-shuh)—Razia’s guru, a mother-like figure who runs the Bikampur dera; often called Ammi by her celas

Vikram Sharma (Vih-kruhm Sher-mah)—Bikampuri noble who possesses a lovely khanda

Viputeshwar (Vih-poo-t(h)esh-wahr)—grandfatherly courtier in Rajkot fort

PLACES

Bikampur (Bee-kahm-poor)—a city in Registan ruled by the Maharaja Udai Agnivansha

Daryastan (Duh-ree-ah-stahn)—the subcontinent on which the story’s principal action takes place

Kadiro (Kuh-dee-roh)—chief port city and historic capital of Zindh

Kolikota (Koh-lee-koh-tah)—the coastal city where Lakshmi was born, currently part of the Virajendra empire

Lahanur (Lah-huh-noor)—a Nizami subah to the north of Zindh, ruled by Razia’s cousin Tariq

Mahisagar (Muh-hee-sa-grr)—a sultanate on the west coast of Daryastan, ruled by Ahmed Shah and home to Prince Karim

Nizam (Nih-zahm)—the capital city that lends its name to the sultanate of Nizam, the greatest empire in northern Daryastan

Rajkot (Rahj-kot)—a fort in Mahisagar

Registan (Reh-gih-stahn)—a desert land famous for its warrior kings, its beautiful fortresses, and the wealth that flows through it on its way to or from the sea

Shikarpur (Shee-kahr-poor)—capital and largest city of Zindh

Virajendra (Veer-uh-jehn-druh)—a major empire to the south of Nizam

Yaruba (Yuh-rooh-buh)—a desert land to the west of Daryastan

Zindh (Zind)—a subah of the sultanate of Nizam to the north and west of Bikampur

TERMS

cela (chay-lah)—a disciple of a guru living in a hijra dera

crore (kror)—ten million

dera (day-ruh)—a hijra house

dupatta (doo-putt-uh)—a scarf or shawl-like garment worn by women to loosely cover their hair

haveli (hay-vay-lee)—a mansion or townhouse

hijra (hee-jurd-uh)—a member of a community of transfeminine individuals who were assigned male at birth

jalebi (juh-lay-bee)—a dessert made from a sweet batter deep-fried in pretzel-like twists

jam (jahm)—a Zindhi king

jama (jah-muh)—a Zindhi queen

kameez (kuh-meez)—a long tunic with slits along the sides

katar (kuh-tahr)—a punch dagger with an H-shaped grip and a triangular-shaped blade, often used in pairs

khanda (kuhn-dah)—a word meaning sword; it normally refers to one with a straight double-edged blade, usually with a spatulate tip and