Baby Akbar's father has been deposed by his uncle, and now the whole family is on the run. In order to survive, the family must run to the mountains and remain hidden. But baby Akbar is too young -- if they were to take him, the infant surely would die in the winter cold of the hills. And so, in order to save him, his father entrusts him to friends whom the new king, Akbar's uncle, could never harm. But through a series of circumstances, Akbar's uncle takes him in -- even though it would mean that sometime later, when they are older, a father may assassinate his own son in order to take the throne. And now Akbar must survive the perils of living in the palace in order to live long enough to save his parents from permanent exile. . . .

Author Biography

Flora Annie Steel (1847 - 1929) was an English writer, who lived in British India for 22 years. She was noted especially for books set there or otherwise connected with the sub-continent. Flora Annie Steel was interested in relating to all classes of Indian society. The birth of her daughter gave her a chance to interact with local women and learn their language. She encouraged the production of local handicrafts and collected folk-tales, a collection of which she published in 1894. Her interest in schools and the education of women gave her a special insight into native life and character. A year before leaving India, she coauthored and published The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook, giving detailed directions to European women on all aspects of household management in India. In 1889 the family moved back to Scotland and she continued her writing there. Some of her best work, according to the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica, is contained in two collections of short stories, From the Five Rivers and Tales of the Punjab. Her novel On the Face of the Waters (1896) describes incidents in the Indian Mutiny. She also wrote a popular history of India.