THE GREAT LADY OF ALKION

CHAPTER 57

Hello readers. I hope that you are well. Thank you for journeying with me till here. I also thank you for your continued support and for being my readers. We have some more chapters coming up. Remember to vote and comment because your feedback means a lot. Thank you 😊
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"Thank you for visiting me father," Meritaten said as she embraced her father.
"I thought that I could pass by and see how you are faring on. I received the joyous news."
"I am happy about it father. Pharaoh had always wanted us to have a child. The gods have finally heard our prayers."
"Obviously they do my daughter. I am happy as well. If it's a son, I am sure that Smenkhhare will be favoured more and will succeed Ramses and be Pharaoh. You will be the Great Wife and you will bring glory to our family," he said with a smile.
"It's what I want as well. The thought of that makes me feel very very happy."
"I must caution you though. In order to safeguard your position and be the Great Wife someday, you must make sure to be careful of your enemies here in the palace."
" Yes."
" You must be wary of that foreign princess, Astrid. She may not have conceived but she is powerful because of her family. Her kingdom has been growing stronger by the day and we must not underestimate her."
" I don't like her. She has always tried to seduce Smenkhhare and he fell for her charm. I can't be at ease around her. She is dangerous."
" Exactly. That is why you need to be careful. That goes for Rashida. That girl is everything to Ramses."
" Yes father but she is on my side. She dislikes Astrid as much as I do. I can put her to good use and make sure that our plans succeed. As far as I know, she has no interest in the throne. The only threat is if she is married to Thutmose and he gets selected as the heir to the throne. She will be the Great Wife."
" That is why you need to be careful around everyone. Make sure you earn favour from Pharaoh. You must take care of yourself and birth this child well if you need good days ahead for yourself,"he said as he pointed at her stomach." Here is something that might help you."
He handed her a vial and she looked around before taking it.
" What is this ?"
" It's some poison. Use it on any enemy."
" Won't it be noticed by the physicians ?"
" It's your duty to make sure that you are not caught. You need to bring Astrid down first and it will be easy to deal with Rashida."
" Mmmh," she smiled at her father and he reciprocated the gesture." I will escort you out."
They walked out together as they talked more.
On her way back, she met Rashida who was walking around with a flower in her hand.
" Rashida," she called out.
" Meritaten," she said disinterestedly and began to pluck away the petals dropping them on the ground.
"What are you doing ? You seem lost in thought."
"I just feel bored. I need some action within the palace. Seti and Smenkhhare are away otherwise I would have played some games with them. Thutmose is with father," she said and began to walk with Meritaten joining her.
"Perhaps you could tell me why you sided with Astrid on that day ?"
"Oh Meritaten dear, you need to keep your enemies closer. I earned a bit of Astrid's trust with that. Besides, if I sided with you after seeing how angry father was, everything would have gone wrong."
" You could have still kept your mouth shut. Or how about this, never came at all!"
" I told you that I needed to get a bit closer to Astrid. Besides, I am closer to Seti again since he forgot about me after marriage."
"How about Astrid ?" she joked and Rashida rolled her eyes." Aren't you supposedly closer now ?"
"I can never spend time with that woman. She only came here to ruin everything for me. Father pays more attention to her more than me now."
"You are one to talk when he has never paid attention to me. He does so now because I am with child."
" Speaking of the child, how is it to be expectant ? I would love to have a child of my own too."
Rashida stopped and her eyes were fixed on one spot by the lion statue.
" I feel alright except for the nausea and dizziness at times. You will but don't you think that you should have a husband for you to have a child ?"
She got no response and looked in the direction at which Rashida was looking. There stood Baka looking down at a woman. He held a flower in his hand and he moved it around the woman's face as she giggled. He caressed her face and she placed her hands on his waist. They smiled at each other and he spoke to her.
"Oh my sweet Yunet. You are as beautiful as Isis," he spoke softly to the blushing woman.
"Stop it Baka," she giggled.
"I mean it. You deserve the skies and all the fine things in life."
"That's all you say to me all the time but you do not give me anything," she said as she faked a frown.
"Don't frown my love," he said as he turned her face so she could look at him."I was working hard so I could give you this," he said and pulled out a silver ring and put it on her finger.
She gasped as she looked at it then at him. She jumped on him and looked at her finger that was now adorned with the silver ring.
"By Bastet. You got me a silver ring Baka."
"Of course," he said with a shrug.
"Silver is the most expensive and you got it just for me," she gushed further.
"A goddess like you deserves that and more. You are the only woman I love. I love you, Yunet."
"Oh. I do too," she said and kissed him.
Meritaten cleared her throat turning the attention to her and Rashida. Baka looked tense so did the woman. Colour was drained from his face and all that he thought of was the fury he saw in Rashida's eyes.
Rashida could not help but look at the ring on the woman's finger. It reminded her of some days ago when she and Baka were in her chambers soaking in her tub. She got a silver ring and gave it to him as a token of her love for him. The ring however, did not fit his finger and he swore to keep it well even though he would not wear it. There he was giving it to another woman from the harem.
"How nice of you two to make the royal garden a place to show off your love," Rashida said with malice laced in her voice.
"We are sorry my lady," Yunet said with her eyes on the ground.
"Get out of here!" Rashida yelled at her and she curtsied quickly.
"Wait," Rashida said stopping her."The ring on your finger. Hand it over."
"Yes your highness," she said as she removed it and handed it over to Rashida before running off.
"A silver ring ?" Rashida asked sarcastically." You have an exquisite taste Baka when it comes to jewelry I see. You are here conducting your affair instead of offering your services to the army. I wonder what father will think of it."
" I am sorry your highness. I shall leave for duty at once."
" Then get to it," she said angrily.
Meritaten looked at the reaction between the two and from that, she came to a conclusion and it was correct. The Pharaoh's daughter had something going on with Baka, the general of the army.
"You are a strict follower of the palace rules Rashida," Meritaten said.
"Yes. He is supposed to be working with the army and not spend time with women. He is an army general. He needs to be serious with his work."
"Of course."
Meritaten answered with a smile. That was something she had against Rashida. The seemingly perfect princess was in love with the army general. That would be some information she would certainly use for her own gain in future.