Chapter XVII. Pharaonic Blood

-Finally, Zainab, you were able to have my baby girl.

-Our baby, Hatshepsut.

-Rather, mine, Zainab, I’d prefer that you not become furious. Look at her. She is identical to me in every way. Her veins feel as though they are carrying my blood. I wouldn’t mind you being her mother, of course, but I will be the one to make all decisions pertaining to her, both small and major; I will also be the one who will nurture and educate her.

She examined the baby girl closely, gazing into her eyes intensely.

Fatima and Zainab shared the same expression in their eyes that the wise old man did forty years prior.

She announced: Alara, the bright and the brilliant, shall be her name.