Women of Power - Book Three - Gashera

Princess Gashera of Mari receives a visitation from the non-binary Angel Godmother Galanriel and loses a slipper and falls in love with Prince Samsuiluna of Babylon while dancing the Tutul City Trot at the Peace of the Euphrates Ball. The budding romance is nipped in the bud by the Scandal in the Court of Palms. Princess Gashera is more than happy to escape the confines of the Royal Harem of Mari and ride with Prince Samsuiluna in battles against barbarians and the despotic rulers of foreign lands who want her hand and the rest of her in marriage. Sukkal Kudu-Zulush of Elam fails to deceive Babylon and Larsa with a ruse de guerre but still determines to have Gashera for himself. The scandalous Princess Paba quits the convent she has been banished to and teleports to the future, only to return on a regular basis for shameless trysts of mutual debasement with Sam's brother Prince Sumuditana. Sam and Gashera and her mother Queen Shibtu travel to the same convent to celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Arbisi, and a talking donkey tries to explain to Captain Sabium the inexplicable disappearance of Princess Paba. Gashera convinces Sam to put down his sword for a while and learn how to make delicious earth-almond dessert balls and stretch the boundaries of what may be considered sexual relations. King Rim-Sin and Ambassador Sumuel quaff good wine and quote Shakespeare as the Music of the Empires fades for Larsa. Sam meets Gashera in Tutul to witness the Divine Justice of a River Ordeal in the Euphrates; the outcome of which may have been influenced by a crocodile from the Ganges. The Babylonians are astonished to witness Gashera administer Amorite justice to a band of murderous slave traders that earns her a nickname that may not be fully undeserved. King Hammurabi has himself declared a god without needing to die first. Despite fervent prayers and imprecations from both armies, no plagues of frogs or locusts appear either inside or outside the fortified walls of a besieged Mari and not a boil erupts on the backside of any soldier, and an armistice must be reached through human measures alone. Now that the war is over and she is part of the settlement deal, will Princess Gashera allow Angel Godmother Galanriel to become her wedding planner …?