About this book:

*The River King’s Daughter* is a historical fiction novel that explores the intricate intersection of hydraulic engineering, ritual, and systemic corruption in an ancient river civilization. The story follows Anara, the daughter of a senior canal administrator, who discovers that the life-sustaining irrigation network is being methodically sabotaged. Through meticulous record-keeping and field observations, she uncovers a conspiracy involving the Water Bureau Chief, Meresh, and a corrupt foreman named Hemet. They have been falsifying ledgers, stealing high-quality materials, and physically altering canal gradients to divert water from the common farmers to powerful upland estates, creating a manufactured scarcity for political and financial gain.

As the annual flood approaches, the stakes escalate from bureaucratic fraud to a matter of life and death. Anara discovers that the conspiracy reaches into the palace itself, evidenced by the forgery of a retired Royal Seal used to legitimize the sabotage. After a catastrophic embankment breach threatens to drown the village of Ashara, Anara takes the unauthorized, desperate action of opening a primary sluice gate—saving the village but flooding the southern fields. This act forces a final confrontation in the Water Court, where Anara must pit her empirical data against the entrenched political power of the palace elite.

The book culminates in a landmark trial where Anara and her allies—including an upland engineer and an old scribe—present undeniable proof of the "hollowed-out" system. Despite the destruction of evidence by the flood, the testimony of a compromised technical recorder and the presence of the forged Royal Seal lead to the conviction of the conspirators. The novel concludes with the "Daughter’s Decree," as the farmers of the eastern quarter unite to demand transparency and the restoration of the canal. Anara's journey illustrates that the legitimacy of a civilization rests not on its rituals, but on the honesty of the infrastructure and the integrity of those who measure the flow.