[Ancient Egypt] A Mermaid's Love Song on the Nile

[My new novel, Eros Doesn't Understand Love [Greek Mythology], is now available. The blurb is at the end.]

[An optimistic, resilient storybook mermaid who turned into sea foam × an overbearing, scheming, sharp-tongued ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Thutmose III. Marriage first, love later.]

As the mermaid's consciousness faded after she turned into sea foam on the ocean, a gentle voice carried her to another world.

Temple complexes towered between the desert sands and the royal city, while the gods watched over the mortal world.

The high priest Ay found a beautiful girl by the Nile. When she had been rescued from a crocodile, fish scales had covered her legs.

He gave her the name Merit-Ra.

At the same time, word came from the royal city of Thebes that Neferure, wife of Thutmose III and daughter of Hatshepsut, had gone missing.

*

Drawn by the song in his dreams, Thutmose caught Merit-Ra as she stood in the valley, facing the wind.

But he discovered that the beautiful girl before him was mute.

A prophecy from Ra: "The missing princess Neferure will return, walking upon the waters of the River of the Dead."

Five years ago, during the Valley Festival, Thutmose caught Merit-Ra as she fell into the Nile.

Five years later, on the banks of the Nile, Merit-Ra protected Thutmose from a pack of crocodiles.

*

Within the crumbling walls of Karnak Temple, beneath the gaze of a towering obelisk and the weathered statue of Horus,

A girl dressed in a pristine kalasiris gently brushed her hand over a familiar cartouche.

It chronicled the life of Thutmose III, who would become one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs.

Reading guide:

1. The heroine is the little mermaid from the fairy tale who turned into sea foam. She has a damaged voice at first and needs time to recover, but she won't remain mute forever.

2. Both leads are virgins, 1v1++. Please don't conflate the romance with real history (important!). The story is a slow burn and features various elements of Egyptian funerary culture.

3. Everything is set up for a happy ending! The leads only have eyes for each other!

4. All historical information in this story comes from books, encyclopedias, archaeological videos, educational material, and what I know personally. But this is still a novel, so if anything is made up or inaccurate, please separate it from actual history and local culture. Thank you! I absolutely do not mean to offend the Egyptian people or culture. I write with reverence and respect.

Blurb:

The gods instructed Eros, god of love, to shoot a golden arrow at Medea, princess of Colchis.

They wanted her to fall in love at first sight with Prince Jason, who had come to the island in search of the Golden Fleece, and help him complete his quest.

The arrow flew, but something seemed to have gone wrong.

Medea fell in love at first sight with Eros, not Prince Jason.

Eros couldn't understand why Medea had seen him and fallen in love with him.

To complete his mission, he could only do everything in his power to bring her and Prince Jason together, but the golden arrow was simply too powerful.

With no other choice, he had to play the heartless cad and cruelly abandon Medea.

But as Medea turned to leave with tears in her eyes, Eros felt as if an invisible arrow had pierced his heart. He seemed to regret it.

--

Medea had always secretly loved a god who brought passionate love wherever he went.

She loved him, and it had nothing to do with the golden arrow.

"I don't care who the gods of Mount Olympus picked for me to fall in love with at first sight. The only one I want now is Eros!"

But no matter how hard she tried, Eros kept pushing her toward Jason and ignoring her feelings.

She was tired. So she shut her heart to love and left without looking back. So what if it was the Golden Fleece? So what if Jason needed help? Fine, she'd go!

When she stood before Prince Jason, following the course of fate, the god of love who didn't understand love suddenly appeared as he had the first time and abducted her.

Oh! Looks like he's serious now.

Pairing: Eros × Medea, 1v1, happy ending.

Whatever the myths say, the hero and heroine in this story are devoted to each other in body and soul.

Theme: The true meaning of love