Hekanefer and his troops were defeated in the war against the Hittites. Hekanefer is riding his horse when about three thousand out of his 10,000 troops came home to Kush with him. His face is a drawing of sad, tired and weak man not only defeated losing thousands of his men and women, but also the moment that he found out about Henshupta. Sakhbe gave him the good news that the queen is pregnant with his child but gone off to Egypt to reclaim her throne, which is about one and a half month travel by horse.
Hekanefer's spirits lifted up and a hope of a new beginning made his aura change from gloomy to rejoicing. He is to become a father soon and this is a birth of a new era of a beautiful relationship between Nubia and Egypt. But will Thebe-Egyptians accept the Nubian-Sudanese.
He cleaned himself up and ordered his general with a dozen of archers and soldiers to come with him to protect Queen Henshupta, Egypt's pharaoh.
While travelling in the Sudan dessert, Spia and Henshupta with a couple of soldiers who are assisting and protecting the queen, were very optimistic about the queen carrying a Nubian blood in her. But traveling days and all in the dessert might not be a wise decision and Henshupta looked not good at all. She is pale and weak. She needs rest and it's only been a week since they left Kush. They still need to ride the long dessert way 2000 kilometers more. Spia is worried about the queen and she needs to make a decision. She ordered the soldiers to wait for Hekanefer and his troops that would definitely follow his mother and child. Spia found a way to take a ferry from Wadi Halfa to Aswan, but it will still take a thousand kilometers for her and the queen to reach Cairo. But Henshupta can't walk uprightly, so Spia decided to stay in one of the stop over cities before they reach Cairo. She wanted the queen to recover from her weight loss since she's been feeling sick in a while. It's been three days and Henshupta's pale skin and face has color now. She eats light, soft meals and can even give a smile now unlike the past few days that she's been uptight and cranky.
In the middle of the Sudan desserts, Hekanefer followed Spia and Henshupta's trails, finding the soldiers Sakhbe ordered to protect the queen and her baby. He wanted to hit the archer and soldier but one said that Spia wanted to let the queen rest for a couple of days since she had been very week and they stayed there to make sure to escort them in a nearby city by ferry to Cairo.