Ma’rama, Daimyo’s Daughter

Ma’rama, Daimyo’s Daughter is the working title of my completed young adult fantasy novel.

Ma’rama is the spirit medium daughter of an aristocratic family who rejects the supernatural ability she shares with her geishmiko twin sister until the survival of the empire depends on Ma’rama’s gift. The novel is set in the island empire of Taykoku Koganay Ree’ukyuu where the three races that comprise the Golden Empire of the Crested Eagle (inspired by Maori, Japanese, and Scandinavian cultures) have attained an era of peace. When the story opens sixteen-year-old Ma’rama is struggling to establish a separate identity by defining herself as who she’s not – her much-praised twin, Hahana.

Following the emperor’s death the young Emperor Heir is guided by the Throne Marshal and the Council of Five noblest daimyo dukes. As the noble families arrive in the capital for the Season, Ma’rama (Mara) plots the disruption of a possible arranged betrothal. Despite their differences, Mara and her twin Hahana (Hana) share an unusual bond that unites them when their privileged lives are turned upside down by a bloody coup.

Tamura Shigeru believes he alone can protect the empire from the khan of Mughalstan when the Throne Marshal and Council of Five disregard his warning of an invasion. Shigeru’s men assassinate the Council of Five and their families, but Mara and Hana miraculously escape and flee for their lives with the help of a family retainer and a band of brigands. Mara wants to return to the family’s rural estate on one of the northern islands, but when she and Hana learn the deceased emperor’s first-born son did not die at birth but was instead hidden away at the Cloud Shrine, the sisters make for the island’s tallest mountain to locate the hidden prince.

Tamura Shigeru is determined to eliminate the twin sisters that threaten his plans.