'I have made my choice, my grandson. I command and you obey. You are a gifted leader, and I love you for you share my blood and the same fiery spirit of Meshwesh flows through our veins. But you are inexperienced in war, and Tanis lies on the doorstep of many enemies.'
Family is everything, but even blood is not thicker than iron.
From the First Cataract on the borderlands of wild Nubia to the sun-touched temples of Memphis, the Priests of Karnak rule the lands around Thebes with the power of ancient kings. Pharaoh rules from distant Tanis in name only, a token monarch forgotten and ignored.
When the High Priest of Amun in Thebes suddenly falls ill and passes into the underworld, a new heir to the throne must be chosen. But when Pharaoh's decision to pass over his own kin causes a division that threatens to split Thebes apart, his bloodline must fight to reclaim what is theirs.
Osorkon, great-grandson of Pharaoh and descended from the line of the High Priests of Amun in Thebes finds himself beset on all sides. Many are the nobles and war chiefs that will sniff out the first sign of weakness as a vulture smells out a kill. Thrust into the events that define the end of the New Kingdom, Osorkon must shed the blood of enemies within and without, not just to reclaim his birthright but for his family's very survival.