Publisher's Synopsis
It is 1252 BCE .King Hattusili III (Hattu) is king of the Great Hittite Empire together with his queen Puduhepa (Pudu). Pudu is a highly respected stateswoman, diplomat, prime regent and advisor to her husband the king, giving her the venerated title of "Tawannanna".
King Hattu dies and leaves Pudu to govern the empire as tawannanna to her son Suna, who is crowned as King Tudhaliya IV. Suna is defeated in a crucial battle by the Assyrians at the cost of huge territorial losses.
The empire is further weakened by internal strife and external threats. Pudu must do everything in her power to restore the frayed relations with Assyria and Egypt.
Suna dies and his eldest son Kazanna is next in line for the throne. Puduhepa is vehemently opposed to this due to the inability of either Kazanna or his brother Arnili to produce an heir.
Nevertheless Kazanna is crowned as King Arnuwanda III. However, he has no intention to lead military campaigns and risk his life of leisure, causing the empire to slide further into decline.
The comely Gapazilani (Gapa) was a suitable candidate to become Kazanna's queen, but four years into the marriage there was still no heir. The palace rumor that the royal marriage had never been consummated gave her the questionable title of "Virgin Queen".
Arnili, a womanizer pur sang, seduced his brother's wife Gapa just as she was about to leave on a bogus diplomatic mission to visit her lover Prince Armati in the kingdom of Ammura. A mission that was orchestrated by Puduhepa in an effort to save the dynasty and the kingdom from their eventual demise.
A son Kuzim is born and Arnili is convinced that it is his. Reason to speed up his personal agenda by deposing his brother King Arnuwanda and seizing the throne. He eliminates all obstacles that might block his progress and crowns himself King Suppiluliuma II, fully intending to marry his brother's widow. However he did not foresee the power of love between Gapa and Armati.
Will Arnili marry Gapa and claim Kuzim as his son or will he hunt them down and kill them both out of spite? And how does the aging Puduhepa react to this unexpected turn of events that upset her so carefully thought-out plan?
