Meet Neith-Ka, who is the protagonist of my short story “Dribble Like Me” (as yet completed but not ready to be published for public readership). She’s the athletic, feisty, and somewhat pampered princess of Khamit, a civilization based on ancient Egypt in the story’s pseudo-historical world. She travels over to the citystate of Mutul in Mayab (based on the pre-Columbian Maya) to seal a trade deal, but a cultural misunderstanding between her and her hosts leads to a diplomatic altercation that will have to be resolved with a ball game. Namely, the Mesoamerican-style of ball game wherein you shoot a rubber ball through a vertical hoop without your palms or toes, and where the loser gets put to death.
Oh, and Neith-Ka does not like foreigners touching her braids without permission. It’s not that she’s uncommonly touchy, though. You’d feel very much the same way if you had to put up with unsolicited hair molestation all the time when visiting other cultures.