▌ THE CANON

The Shards of Heaven is a historical fantasy trilogy by Michael Livingston, set during the rise of the Roman Empire and teeming with magic and mythical lore. Central to the series are the Shards, magical stones with unearthly, destructive powers said to be the broken pieces of the Throne of God: the Trident of Poseidon (Water), the Ark of the Covenant (Earth), the Aegis of Zeus (Life), the Palladium of Troy (Air) and the Lance of Olyndicus (Fire).

▌ THE GIRL

Selene is the only daughter of Cleopatra, former pharaoh and queen of Egypt, and former Roman triumvir and general Mark Antony, and she was raised and highly educated in Alexandria, the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt, in a manner appropriate for a princess. When she was only 10 years old, both her parents committed suicide after they were defeated in the Battle of Actium, while her older half-brother Caesarion was believed to have been killed during the siege of Alexandria. Selene and her remaining brothers were captured by Octavian before Cleopatra could take them with her to death, though Selene did their mother one last favor by smuggling in the asp that would take her life.

She and her twin Alexander Helios were brought to Rome and paraded in thick gold chains and collars made from Egyptian gold; their younger brother Ptolemy Philadelphus had died en route, though Helios also died in prison not long after. Selene was then raised in Octavian's household, and while in Rome she found one of the Shards, the Palladium of Troy, and later stole it from the Temple of the Vestal Virgins with the help of Tiberius, Octavian's stepson.

She was betrothed to Juba, Octavian's adopted brother, likewise a conquered prince of the Berbers, who she'd agreed to wed in exchange for the life of her father's legionnaire, Lucius Vorenus. They were married just weeks after she turned 15, then she'd accompanied him to Cantabria, to the front lines of Octavian's campaign in Hispania.