THE GREAT LADY OF ALKION

CHAPTER 44.

It was late at night and many had either left for their homes or found a place to rest in the palace.
She couldn't sleep and so she walked around the palace. The long corridors were well lit with brightly burning torches and the moon shone gloriously. She walked on and on.
Life in the palace looked like it would be very enjoyable. There would be luxuries, a huge space for her to walk and relax her mind, servants at her beck and call and finally, Smenkhhare.
Where was he now ? Probably in his chambers sleeping. It had been a few hours and she had already gotten attracted to someone.
She found herself in some part of the palace where there were plants. It was the garden. Looking further, there was a stone structure. When she approached it, it was a pool. She dipped her fingers in the water and splashed the water. She had to visit that spot when there was light so she could see the beauty of the garden.
Just then, she heard someone stumble against something. She looked back and saw the figure of a man and he finally came into view.
"You," he said.
"It's me," she replied shyly.
"What are you doing here ?"
"I was just walking around. I couldn't sleep."
"Oh," he said. He was drunk and seemed disturbed by something.
"Are you alright ?"
"I....am."
"You don't seem to be alright."
"Ju..st leave me alone."
"But I care. Come on. Tell me whatever is bothering you."
"I said leave me alone," he shouted."Go away."
"Yes my lord," she said and curtsied quickly. When she turned to leave, he spoke.
"Wait. Don't go."
"Why shouldn't I ? You don't need me here,"she said trying to sound unaffected but her voice betrayed her.
"I was angry. Don't go Meritaten."
She loved how her name sounded coming from his lovely lips. He walked towards her and stood behind her. She turned to face him and soon he, was caressing her bare shoulders.
"You have lovely eyes, you know," he said."I have never seen such eyes in my entire life."
He placed his hands on her face and she began to sweat. He kissed her abruptly and placed his hands on her waist. She began to tremble and he broke off the kiss.
"Haven't you done this before ?"
"N..no," she stammered.
"Very good. Just how I like it."
Something didn't feel right from how he spoke but she was enjoying the new experience. Never before had she gotten exposed to such an experience because she was always at home under the instructions of her father.
He began to trace his fingers along her collarbone and moved his hand down her chest slowly and stopped after they heard voices of soldiers walking past the garden.
"Someone will see us here and we don't want to risk being seen. Maybe we should go to my chambers. We will have a lot of privacy," he said with a smirk.
She felt her mind warn her to stay away from him after seeing the smirk plastered over his face. This was a once in a lifetime chance for her to have the favour of a royal prince. If she did what he wanted, it would mean that he would definitely select her to be his wife the following day.
She could only nod and he held her hand as he led her to his chambers. His room was spacious with lovely vases and carvings.  The wall was decorated with paintings and his bed looked great. It had many inscriptions on its frame but she couldn't make out much of it because he spoke to her.
"Are you done staring ?"
"Yes. It's just that you have a beautiful room. I've never seen anything like it."
"I'd understand that. With you being a servant, you can't have some things."
" I am not a servant,"she said. She had to make that clear. It was annoying.
" But you were serving wine in the hall."
" I was....."
" Shhh!" he said." I don't care about anything else. We're here to enjoy the night, aren't we ?"
" We are but this is not orderly."
" Who cares if it's orderly or not ?"
He grinned as he began to loosen up her belt. Was she really going to push through with that ? The man in front of her was drunk and there she was doing nothing to stop him from undressing her. He slid the sleeves off her shoulders and the dress fell to the floor. There she was naked in front of a man she had met earlier in the day. That felt wrong. Totally wrong but his eyes shone with desire for her body and she closed her mind off from the thoughts telling her to grab her dress and run off.
Within a blink of an eye, his clothes weren't on his body. When her mind caught up with what was happening, he was on top of her enjoying her body. A tear flowed from her eye.
"Are you crying ?" he asked when he looked at her.
"No. I'm not."
"Alright," he said and went ahead with what he was doing.
Some time later, he was snoring beside her. He looked very handsome when he was asleep and she couldn't stop herself from admiring him. At that time, she realized that she was in love with him and that she would do everything and anything to make him happy and to stay by his side. That was if he'd choose her to be his wife. He would choose her as his wife and love her, wouldn't he ?

"What is going on here ?" someone shouted waking her up. She opened her eyes and when she looked up, she saw a man looking at them in disgust. It was the Pharaoh and he looked enraged. She covered herself and shook Smenkhhare gently.
" Smenkhhare!"he shouted.
Smenkhhare stirred and began to open his eyes. When he saw his father,he sat up quickly.
"I asked you what is going on here ?" he shouted again.
Smenkhhare was confused and when he turned, he saw her and shouted at her.
"What are you doing on my bed ?"
"We sp..ent the n..night together," she stammered.
"Who are you ?" Pharaoh asked.
Just before she answered, Khafirin entered the room and his eyes widened at the sight in front of him.
"Who are you woman ?" he roared.
"My name is Meritaten, your majesty." she answered quickly.
"What is this Smenkhhare ? This is the day we select a wife for you and here you are messing around with women!"
"She is only a maidservant. There is nothing to worry about."
" A maidservant ?" Khafirin asked in confusion.
"I am not a maidservant," Meritaten cried.
" Then who are you ?" Pharaoh asked.
" She is the daughter of Lord Abasi, a priest of Ra."
" What !" this from both the Pharaoh and Smenkhhare.
" Why didn't you tell me ?" Smenkhhare questioned her.
" I tried to but you didn't listen to me,"this from a crying Meritaten.
" Father, this is what we'll do. Let's pretend that this did not happen. We'll go out into the hall and act like nothing happened."
" No Smenkhhare," the Pharaoh said as he looked at his son in anger." She is a priest's daughter and you slept with her. You shall marry her."
" But father," he protested." I don't love her."
Each of Smenkhhare's words were like swords piercing her heart. There he was rejecting her after the night they had. It was a lovely night for them, wasn't it ? Or so she'd thought. Now he didn't want to marry her. He was only using her. She couldn't bear the pain inside and so she cried out loudly.
"You have ruined your chances of marrying a good woman. I had settled for your marriage to the second daughter of the high priest of Abu Simbel. Your second wife would have been a foreign princess. Now look at what you've done. The both of you should get dressed up and join me in the great hall for my declaration. By the end of this moon, you Smenkhhare, shall marry this woman."