Neferura

Neferura is a princess and high priestess of Kemet, and the daughter of its Pharaoh. With a mother on the throne, she has never been allowed to forget what she owes her people. Her position at court is unusual, and the stakes for the country are high.

Her half-brother Thutmose resents her and wants to block any rise she might make. Neferura is forced to serve him, and the arrangement is dangerous. Then she overhears him plotting to end her mother's rule, and she decides he has to be stopped, whatever it costs her.

Her search for a way to act leads her to a tattooed wisewoman who runs a hidden network of spies. The two form an uneasy alliance. The wisewoman holds a kind of power that Neferura did not know existed, and it could rival her own.

This is historical fiction set in ancient Egypt, centred on women who hold power openly and the enemies that attention brings. The central question is where Neferura's loyalties lie and how much she will give up to protect the people she loves. The threat of a tyrant taking over hangs across the book, and the tone is one of court intrigue and rising danger.