Following the Burning of the Book of Names, Lord Lust was relieved of his post as Raja of Pundrapur, with the title instead being granted to Sanja Fairmaiden, Magna the Unfortunate and Lord Lust's half sister, and bastard daughter of Magnus the Quiet. Sanja was considered an unusual choice for the post, holding only the minor title of Thakurani of Istenpore (a poor town Darkwards and slightly Roundwards in the shadow of Magnapur). However, Sanja was known in court as being close to her niece, Magna the Scholar, acting as a confidant and friend; the two women were barely two years apart in age despite being aunt and niece. Though still widely read, Sanja was not known as being as involved in the scholarly pursuits as the Magna, developing a reputation as a rare beauty and hence the name "Fairmaiden". Sanja was also known to dislike and distrust Lord Lust, who she described as a "befouling and disquieting wraith" - this seemed to initially spark from resentment between their mothers, but grew as time passed due to Lust's less than pleasant activities. Following Lust's fall from grace, the Fairmaiden was swiftly granted the Rajdom of Pundrapur - partly in fear of the growing revolution, and partly to spite the former Raja.
As Rani, Fairmaiden never set foot in Pundrapur. A lifelong courtier, she stayed in Magnapur as the revolution took off in earnest, remaining at the side of the Magna. This distance, as well as the ongoing chaos, allowed Pundrapur to be usurped a scarce few months after the Rani's appointment. Menveg, Lust's bastard son and commonly referred to as "the Bloody Bastard", levied a thousand men, and hired the same again in mercenaries to take the city of Pundrapur before the arrival of any troops from either Istenpore or the capital. The few soldiers in the city were swiftly either overwhelmed or swapped sides to join the attackers and sack the city.