Over a month had passed since Honoria's disappearance, and despite the Byzantine imperial family's best efforts, they had completely and utterly failed to locate the girl. They were beginning to fear for the worst.
While the Emperor was struggling to deal with the fallout of his daughter's reckless behavior, Arethas was marching an army into Egypt. They had set sail from Ionia not long ago, and they arrived in Egypt not far from what remained of the territory of the Byzantine's decades-long conflict of invading the region.
Despite the Byzantines' best efforts, the Mamluke sultanate still held control of Egypt, Cyrene, and most of North Africa. Thus leaving the Byzantine Empire in a never-ending war for reclaiming lost territory. If not for the vast wealth gained from the Levant and the trade routes connected to the Mediterranean, the Byzantines would have had to give up this conflict long ago.
