The Poisoned Wick: An Akbar-Birbal Court Mystery
About this audiobook
A candle that burns wrong. A palace that whispers. A Wazir who must pretend to lose his mind to save it.
Agra is preparing for the festival of lights. The fort is draped in marigolds, the markets smell of sweets, and the palace is bustling with its usual routines. But in the quiet study of Wazir Birbal—the Emperor's sharpest mind—a seemingly ordinary delivery of beeswax candles has arrived.
There is no blade, no poisoned cup, and no obvious wound. Just a faint, bitter smell that shouldn't be there, a mysterious crescent mark, and a slow, creeping exhaustion that begins to cloud Birbal's legendary wit.
To uncover the truth, Birbal must do the unthinkable: he must let his enemies believe they are winning. Feigning a mysterious illness, he retreats from the court, leaving the conspirators to grow bold. But he is not alone. Armed with a sharp tongue and a notebook titled "What we do not know," his daughter Tara rallies an unlikely team—including a lizard with a knack for survival, two palace servants with a talent for gossip, and an Emperor who notices everything he pretends to ignore.
Together, they must follow a trail of silent secrets, borrowed tokens, and clever disguises from the chandlers' lane to the imperial treasury.
The Poisoned Wick is a warm, witty, and utterly charming historical mystery. Filled with clever riddles, delightful banter, and zero gore, it is a story about the quiet heroes who keep a palace running, the difference between a suspicion and a proof, and how a single flame can be the most honest messenger in a room full of masks.
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About the author
Kayra Knight
Author • Raw Storyteller • Voice of Untold Emotions
Kayra Knight is a contemporary author based in India, writing raw stories that explore the space between what people feel and what they are able to express. With a voice that is both restrained and deeply evocative, Kayra creates narratives centered on emotional depth, quiet tension, and the complexities of everyday life.
Kayra’s work is defined by clarity of language and subtle psychological insight. Her prose remains simple and accessible, while the underlying emotions unfold gradually, leaving a lasting impression on readers. She believes that the most powerful stories are often the quietest ones—the ones that reflect familiar emotions in unfamiliar ways.
Across her writing, Kayra explores themes such as identity, resilience, human relationships, and the choices that shape individual lives. Her characters are not defined as heroes or villains, but as individuals navigating circumstances with their own strengths, struggles, and limitations.
Based in India and influenced by its cultural depth and diversity, Kayra writes fiction that feels both intimate and universally relatable. Her stories are imagined, yet grounded in emotions that readers across different backgrounds can connect with. From deep psychological conflicts and cosmic mysteries to the lighthearted chaos of everyday friendships, Kayra writes to explore every shade of human reality.
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“Every story has a soul. I write to give voice to the ones often left unheard.”
— Kayra Knight
