Margo Scott asked Kendare Blake:

Is Arsinoe's name a reference to Cleopatra VII/Arsinoe IV of ancient Egypt? I listened to a podcast on Cleopatra's rise to power and learned she had a strained/murderous relationship with her sister, Arsinoe, and was wondering if that might have served as inspiration for the Arsinoe we know and love :)

Kendare Blake It is! There was a time during drafting when I wasn’t sure what was beyond the mist. For a while I thought it would be our world, and Arsinoe’s name would be an insult, for a queen to be given the name of a woman who was murdered by her royal sister.

Eventually the setting of the story changed, but the name stuck!

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