The Most Beautiful Woman in All of Egypt
Passion Exclusives
Romance
17K
Beskrivelse
Princess Laila, the jewel of Egypt, is revered for her beauty and power, but when rebellion threatens the Pharaoh’s rule, she is forced into a dangerous marriage alliance with one of the three warlord brothers—Amunet, Khepri, and Seti—who seek vengeance against her family. Sent as both bride and assassin, Laila must navigate a web of betrayal, seduction, and war, caught between duty to her father and her own survival. As tensions rise, she discovers shocking secrets, including her father’s ultimate betrayal and the Queen’s hidden ambitions, forcing her to decide whether to become a pawn—or a queen who seizes her own destiny.
Kapittel 1
Apr 9, 2025
The great hall of the palace shimmered in the golden glow of torchlight. The scent of burning myrrh and jasmine curled through the air, clinging to the silks and perfumes of the noblemen who stood waiting. Above them, the ceiling soared high, painted with the stories of gods and kings, their triumphs etched into eternity.
And at the center of it all, Princess Laila sat upon her throne, next to her glorious father, Pharaoh Amenhotep III.
She was a vision of Egyptian divinity, draped in white linen so fine it clung to her like a whisper, the golden embroidery catching the flickering torchlight. A broad collar of turquoise and onyx sat heavy on her shoulders, its cool weight a reminder of her power. Rows of gold bracelets wrapped around her wrists, chiming softly when she moved—though she rarely needed to.
They were all here for her.
After all, she was the most beautiful woman in all of Egypt.
The suitors came like the Nile’s floodwaters, carrying gifts of gold, lapis, alabaster, silks dyed in colors rarer than rain. They bowed before her, prostrated themselves at her feet, whispered vows of devotion and conquest.
A foreign king, wrapped in the embroidered robes of a land across the sea, promised her ships and incense, temples built in her honor.
A vizier, his purse heavy with gold, swore that no wife of his would ever know suffering.
A nobleman recited poetry—his voice trembling, though it was clear he had practiced it a thousand times before stepping into the great hall.
She rejected them all.
Some with a lazy flick of her fingers, others with nothing more than a single arch of her brow.
Because Laila had never had to say yes to anything she did not want.
And yet—she felt it before she saw him.
The shift in the air.
The sudden silence.
Even the most arrogant of her suitors stepped back as the next man approached.
General Ammon.
Her father’s greatest warrior. The man who had never lost a battle. The one who stood at the right hand of Egypt’s ruler—the one no one dared to defy.
Laila’s fingers curled slightly against the armrest of her throne as he strode forward, the heavy thud of his sandals against the stone filling the hush of the great hall. He smelled of leather, sweat, and steel, as though he had stepped from the battlefield only moments before stepping into her presence.
He was older. Much older.
His face was cut from time and war, his bronze breastplate scratched and dented from countless battles. His arms were thick with corded muscle, the hands of a man who had held more swords than women.
And yet, his eyes—dark, unwavering—held something far more dangerous than the honeyed flattery of her other suitors.
Possession.
He bowed. But not all the way.
Never all the way.
“My queen,” he said, his voice like distant thunder over the desert.
The title felt wrong. She was not his queen.
A servant stepped forward, setting a golden chest inlaid with rubies at Ammon’s feet. With a flick of his fingers, the lid was thrown open.
Inside, treasures overflowed—Nubian ivory, carnelian beads, leopard pelts, a dagger with a hilt of pure lapis lazuli. Gifts that could buy cities. Gifts that would have made any other woman weep with gratitude.
Laila did not react.
“Gifts for you, princess,” Ammon continued, his dark gaze never leaving hers. “Only a fraction of what I would place at your feet as my wife.”
The weight of every eye in the room pressed against her, waiting. Watching.
Laila’s heartbeat pounded against her ribs.
She had rejected a dozen men before him, cast them aside like fallen petals from a dying lotus.
But none of them had made her afraid.
Ammon was not a boy in fine linens, eager to impress. He was not a poet who would grieve her rejection. Ammon was a man who took what he wanted.
She felt her father’s gaze upon her, the tension in the great hall so thick it could snap.
And then, she smiled.
Slow. Elegant. Effortless.
A smile that held no warmth at all.
“A most generous offering,” she murmured, her voice smooth as honey. “And yet…”
She let her gaze drop—not to the chest of treasure, but to the sword at his hip.
A weapon stained with the blood of a thousand men.
A blade that had taken more lives than she could ever count.
And then she looked back at him.
Unmoved. Unimpressed.
“…I find that I am still untouched by desire.”
A ripple of murmurs spread through the hall, a shocked hush following in its wake.
Ammon did not move. For a long, stretched moment, he only stared at her, his dark eyes unreadable. Then—he exhaled sharply through his nose. A laugh. Low. Dangerous.
“I am a patient man, princess,” he said at last, stepping closer—too close. His voice dipped low, for her ears alone.
“And patience always yields its rewards.”
Laila’s spine locked in place.
She did not move.
Did not blink.
Did not flinch.
And finally, after what felt like an eternity, Ammon stepped back.
The court released a breath they had not realized they were holding. But Laila remained still. The whispers had already begun by the time she left the hall.
***
Hagar, her loyal servant, met her in her chambers that night, her expression tight.
She had been by Laila’s side since childhood—fiercely loyal, endlessly sharp, the only one in the palace who spoke freely to her. She was smaller, leaner, dressed in a simple linen shift, her dark curls half-hidden under a sheer veil.
Hagar’s silence was unusual.
"Say it," Laila demanded.
Hagar hesitated, then spoke. "The Pharaoh has taken a wife."
Laila stopped walking.
A wife.
Not a concubine. Not a passing favorite. A queen. Her fingers curled against the gold bracelets lining her wrists. "Who?"
Hagar’s dark eyes sharpened. "Nefirah."
The name settled heavy and sharp in Laila’s chest.
Nefirah.
A beauty, sharp-eyed and calculated. The younger sister of General Ammon. A woman with ambition woven into every silk she wore. And worse—a woman who wanted a son.
An heir.
The Most Beautiful Woman in All of Egypt
20 Kapitler
20
Innhold
Copyright © 2025 Passion
XOLY LIMITED with the registered office at Las Vegas, NV, USA, 89101