Lion Head Mesa whisper of the night [wp]

Akhtar’s brain felt as thought it had become mush. Senmut’s words swept over him like water over the wings of a duck, and sloughed off again.

He inhaled sharply.

Ah.

She may yet change her father’s mind. A new crown prince can be declared at any time, should the pharaoh decide they are unfit. For a moment, he mourned the idea of a Scholar-King. If the girl took the throne, he did not want to know how deep the blood would seep.

She would be breaking upon the shore of a thousand years of tradition, however. She would have a long, hard fight to prove herself. And that is not to say she could keep it either. Women-kings are often challenged for such.

Godspeed, girl. You would need it.