Shirking the defence of the Indian frontier in the First Sikh War, Flashman opts for secret service in the court of a nymphomaniac Maharani who wears the legendary Koh-i-Noor diamond in her navel. Volume IX of the Flashman Papers. With the mighty Sikh army poised to invade India, every able-bodied man was needed to defend Britannia's frontier. When the Call of Duty came, Flashman had his answer ready: 'I'll drown in blood first!'Alas for poor Flashy there was no avoiding the terrors of secret service in the debauched and intrigue-ridden court of the Punjab, the attentions of its beautiful nymphomaniac Maharani, the horrors of its torture chambers, or the dread influence of the Mountain of Light.