Prologue

A glorious sunset in Egypt marked the beginning of a new reign, though nobody knew it yet.

Merenkahre, Great King of the Great Kings, looked more frantic than regal as he paced up and down the echoing, empty hall. His face was screwed up in anxiety, which emphasized the lines in it- though still handsome, he was no longer a very young man. He waited, bearing no resemblance to the ageless, noble statues carved in his likeness. He waited, longing for the ability to guide Ra's chariot across the sky more swiftly. When would this agony end? He waited.

The queen was giving birth, her agony the only other sound in the dreary place. Had the midwives not practically shoved him out, he would be by her side; as it was, all he could do was wait and pace.

Finally, a wail other than his wife's pierced the silence, summoning him to the queen's chambers. Shepseheret reclined on the gold-and-jewel-encrusted sofa, sweaty, exhausted, pale, but more glorious than ever in the king's eyes. Her radiance dimmed the glittering Nile in summer, especially now as she gazed down at their firstborn.

A son. Their firstborn son.

The prince was so small, white and wrinkly! More like an albino hippo than heir to the throne. Yet he was beautiful... Merenkahre could hardly believe they were so blessed by the gods and goddesses! What had they done to deserve such joy? "What shall we call him, my love?" Carefully, he knelt beside his new family, stroking the infant's head as gently as a feather graces the water.

Despite her recent ordeal, Shepseheret beamed, letting tears of joy glisten down her cheeks. "Kahmunrah- it was my great-great uncle's name."

The king nodded, for who else but the mother should have first choice of the name? "Kahmunrah it shall be." Tenderly embracing his wife and baby, he intoned, "Welcome home, my son."