The Lantern Keeper of Bidar
When a boy's lantern speaks a stranger's tongue, he must navigate a city where every family guards an ancestor's voice to uncover why his own has been stolen.
In the floating city of Varuna, families keep one oil-lantern that holds their founder's spoken will as a binding contract. When young Kael's lantern begins whispering orders from an unknown man's throat, the quiet magic of the river-kingdom turns sharp and dangerous. Kael must follow the stranger's cryptic instructions through narrow bamboo markets and temple courtyards before the city elders realize their own ancestors are waking in his light.
