Setenet Akhenaten is a character from Mermaid Princess Amelia fantasy series by Maxine Foti. He made his first appearance in the “Stories from the Undersea World of Mermaid Princess Amelia.”
Setenet Akhenaten is a merman from the Lotus State. His exact age isn’t known but he’s probably seventeen or eighteen. He is the (only) son of the regent of Nakht-Ankh and his wife, a mermaid from the Gulf of Sidra. His paternal grandfather is a merman named Tetet.
Because of his father’s job, Setenet was often seen in the court and neighboring places. It’s not clear though, what his function there was.
Setenet harbors romantic feelings for Nubia Khaled, but he can’t communicate them well. In the “Stories from the Undersea World of Mermaid Princess Amelia,” Setenet bullied Nubia, laughing at her shyness and stutter. He also purposely followed her in the catacombs, to freak her out.
The mermaid pharaoh, Hiset Imhotep, was appalled with this behavior. She said that he should be punished and suggested Nubia made a complaint to his father. But Nubia didn’t do it, knowing that the man had bad temper. Then, Hiset told Nubia that Setenet had a fear of cats, and suggested she took advantage of his romantic feelings for her, to invite him to a walk by the Nile, and released a cat on him. Nubia wasn’t enthusiastic of this idea. She told Hiset, she was scared of cats and scared of upsetting Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess.
Nubia also struggled to believe that Setenet had feelings for her. Later, Neylan Turkuaz, the mermaid princess of the Turquoise Ravines, visited Lotus State. She developed an attraction to Setenet, but Setenet didn’t reciprocate her feelings and felt relieved when she returned home. He subsequently told Nubia, Neylan was just the opposite of what he liked in girls.
When Nubia accidentally learned that Setenet was being physically abused by his father, she became very worried for him. She tried to talk to him, but he didn’t want to talk.
Eventually, the two connected over a mutual interest in sports, and their fascination with the god of storms and deserts, Seth. Setenet liked Seth because he was “angry” and “misunderstood.” He told Nubia that he wanted to change his patron from Wadj-wer (goddess of the Mediterranean Sea) to Seth. Later, Nubia decided to do the same.
After the two become friends, and Nubia decided to leave the Lotus State to visit her father in Portugal, Setenet was crushed by the news. He was so hurt that he tried to break their friendship. It was only after she screamed at him that he admitted he didn’t want her to go away.
After the two made it up, and Nubia swore to be back, Setenet took the ankh charm from her destroyed turquoise bracelet, and attached it to his turquoise bracelet, that he subsequently gave her. Nubia accepted the gift.
In “Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Lost Symphony,” Amelia comments on Nubia wearing the turquoise bracelet, but she thinks that it’s from Neylan, not from Setenet. Still, Setenet got his bracelet from Neylan, so she wasn’t very wrong.
Setenet is a straightforward and overly self-confident type of person. He likes bluffing. Depending on the situation, this makes him aloof, arrogant, sarcastic, or flirty.
Maxine Foti said that Setenet was one of her favorite characters from the story collection.
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