Sotora: a bride of fourteen gods (An African-inspired epic romantasy)

Naa was a woman of uncommon beauty, born among the people of Ndobi—a persecuted and despised minority tribe within the Kingdom of Buthoba. For generations, the Ndobi had lived as outcasts, shunned because they neither worshipped the gods of Buthoba nor bowed to the kingdom's sacred faith.

Then the impossible happened.

To the astonishment of the kingdom, the Fourteen Gods shattered a tradition that had endured for centuries. They passed over the sacred lineage of Sembi—the bloodline from which every Sotora had always been chosen—and instead bestowed their divine anointing upon Naa.

She was chosen to embody the spirit, strength, and might of the Gods, ascending as the next Sotora of Buthoba—the human bride of the fourteen gods, required by custom and tradition to marry the reigning king in a bid to preserve the gods' sacred human bloodline, a lineage believed to be descendend of the gods themselves.

But the young king loved another—the woman of the Sembi bloodline whom all had believed was destined to become Sotora. To him, accepting Naa was unthinkable. He would sooner defy the gods than take her as his queen.

As Naa began the arduous training required to master the elements and wield the divine spirits entrusted to her, she remained unaware of the terrible truth.

Her anointing was never a blessing.

It was a death sentence.

Chosen by the gods, Naa found herself abandoned by the world.

The very power that was meant to crown her would become the reason she was hunted, hated, and broken.