It was evening in Egypt, thousands of years ago, when the Prince Abi, governor of Memphis and of great territories in the Delta, made fast his ship of state to a quay beneath the outermost walls of the mighty city of Uast or Thebes. Moving from the time of the young Queen's birth to her eventual maturation, Haggard paints a great picture of the heroine and manages to spin an entertaining yarn at the same time.