We Are All Stardust

"As she watched, the body seemed to almost shimmer. It was so brief that she wondered whether she'd simply imagined it, but then the eyes suddenly opened and fastened onto hers. She only held the gaze for the briefest moment, but the hatred and loathing was truly shocking." The House of Altimsah had survived its greatest threat, but only just. With the Galactic Empire teetering on the brink of collapse and anarchy, the Reyes Almaluk and her husband, the Tageyatan, seek to restore order and economic viability, while at the same time crushing opposition underfoot.

Jounieh, a planet situated on the very edge of the Ahlzalahm, a vast void at the heart of the galaxy, is on the verge of insurrection. Forces loyal to the House Aireyean are ready to strike against their loathed overlords. And, hidden amongst the disorder, is a mystery older than the Empire itself. A long-forgotten settlement, buried under the Maarab Plain for thousands of years, has another story to tell, one that is reaching from the distant past into the chaotic present.

Majedah, hated half-sister of the Reyes Almaluk, and Kashik, disgraced former friend of the Tageyatan, are thrown head-first into this cauldron of discontent and unrest. Neither of them is in any way prepared for the nightmare that awaits them, but the future of the human galaxy rests in their hands.