While Helios remains angry and contemplates a way for them to escape and return to Egypt, where he will rule as king with Selene by his side, Selene questions her faith in Isis and the memory of her mother. She and her brothers live with Octavia, one of their father’s previous wives, and a handful of half-siblings. When in Octavian’s presence for the first time, Selene begs him to spare their lives, and they soon become a member of the emperor’s household, his mercy granted solely to elevate himself among the people.

Cleopatra gives her daughter her spirit, calling her the Resurrection, and Selene becomes the vessel through which the goddess Isis makes herself heard. She gives Helios her power, and he proves himself to be strong under the weight of Octavian’s reign. She gave Philadelphus her sight, and he has the ability to see things that have not yet happened and things that will never come to pass as the Rivers of Time change course. Ten years later, the emperor Octavian - who wants to be called Caesar and elevated to the level of a god - has defeated Egypt, their parents have committed suicide, and Selene, Helios, and their younger brother, Philadelphus, are dragged through the streets of Rome in chains.īefore Cleopatra killed herself, she gave her children important gifts. Selene and her twin brother, Alexander Helios, were born in 40 B.C., the moon and the sun, and many believed they were to be Saviors. In Lily of the Nile, Stephanie Dray brings to life the story of Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. But I was still in Rome and there was no getting around that fact. I remembered the night calls of the frogs and the silky feel of the desert sand slipping through my fingers. I remembered the camels and the merchants, the palm trees, the spices, and the pyramids - Wonders of the World built thousands of years before I was even born. Looking into my twin’s emerald eyes, I saw the green waters of the Nile and the beckoning light of the Pharos lighthouse. “But if we don’t try, people might forget her. “She hasn’t forgotten us,” Helios said sternly, his faith so black and white in my world of gray. We haven’t been to a Temple of Isis in so long I can barely remember what one looks like, and she sends me no more messages.

Lily of the nile stephanie dray