“Since when did a scribe’s apprentice—for so Sheftu had described himself—possess the smooth and subtle manners of a courtier? The captain grew surer and surer that his passenger was no ordinary nobody.”

Ten days into their voyage, the riverboat captain, Nekonkh, begins to see through Sheftu’s disguise as an apprentice scribe, foreshadowing a possible conspiracy. This moment marks the first hint of the complex intrigue that drives the action of Mara, Daughter of the Nile. The scene also establishes Nekonkh’s perceptive and knowledgeable tendencies, implying that he will be either a valuable ally or a dangerous foe.

“And still the king does not come of age! Why? It’s obvious, friend! He’s not allowed to, nor will he ever be! Hatshepsut is pharaoh, and Egypt must put up with it!”

Impulsively, Nekonkh fumes against Hatshepsut, Egypt’s female ruler, whom he believes has usurped her throne from the rightful pharaoh, her younger half-brother Thutmose. As Sheftu is quick to remind him, such utterances are treasonous and could easily lead to his death, since the queen’s spies are “everywhere.” Nekonkh’s outburst is particularly reckless because Sheftu shows every sign of being an impostor and may himself be one of these spies. However, Sheftu quickly reassures Nekonkh that he has nothing to fear; indeed, the captain’s candid remark leads to a secret alliance between the two men against the queen.