THE GREAT LADY OF ALKION

CHAPTER 73

"You look much better today," Seti said as he helped her walk around the palace.
"Yes. My bruises are gone now but I have to use a lot of make up to hide my haggard look. But that cannot hide the sorrow I feel in my heart. It has been two moons since we lost the child."
"We are going to get through this Astrid. We still have more years together," he said as he kissed the back of her hand."I love you."
"I love you too," she smiled and kissed his cheek.
"How lovely it is to see the both of you doing well," Pharaoh interrupted.
"Good morning father," Seti said as he bowed and Astrid curtsied.
"How are you Astrid ? You look much better than the last time I saw you."
"I am doing well all thanks to your care. I feel stronger now."
" I am still looking into the matter about who harmed you and Meritaten.Rest assured that I will seek justice for you. You are a princess and I have failed you and your kingdom."
" Not at all. That was the work of the evil ones. It was not your fault and none of us knew that it would happen. I believe that you shall find justice for me and Meritaten."
"Great. Will you join me for breakfast in the garden ?"
Seti looked at Astrid and she nodded. The three went into the garden and had their breakfast as they talked.
"I have to be at the great hall. I have a meeting with the court officials. I shall see you soon," Pharaoh said as he stood."Seti, escort your wife back and join the meeting as well. Your counsel will be needed."
Pharaoh left and Seti walked her back towards their room.
"Go now. I will walk the rest of the way," Astrid said as she gave him a gentle push.
"No. I have to make sure that you are alright."
"I am. I will be safe. Besides, our room is just ahead.You should not be late for the meeting."
"Are you sure ?"
"I am my love."
"Your love ?" he chuckled and she smiled as she placed her fingers on his mouth.
"Yes. My love."
He kissed her fingers before hugging her. She wrapped her arms around his waist lovingly.
"I shall await your return soon. I need you by my side."
"As soon as the meeting is over, I shall come be with you. We could use some time out of the palace too."
With one last kiss, he left and she turned to walk towards their room.
" You sure have a loving husband."
"Smenkhhare!" she shrieked." I did not see you."
"You never do."
"Wait. Were you following us ?"
"Following ? No," he said with a laugh." It has been so long yet you have never come to thank me for saving you that day."
She slowly remembered how that fateful day went by.
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"We are all alone in this big garden," Astrid said as she sat on the chair cautiously.
"It is quite strange that we are the only ones here. Lady Meritaten and Princess Rashida frequent this part of the garden but are not here today."
" Maybe the reason is because it is windy today but tell me Luciana how you think it would be if it rained here in Egypt."
" It would be amazing, my lady. I would go out and dance in the rain."
"Me too. I remember how good it was back in Alkion. Aretha and I would play in the rain," she smiled as she remembered her life in their castle.
" The both of you would get drenched and be in trouble with your mother."
" We were both so carefree. I really miss her and my family. She sent me a letter to tell me that everyone was alright and that she is happy with Julian. I am only concerned about Audelia being around them."
" Yes. She really has been away for years and to just show up is suspicious. We can only hope that they are........"
There was silence and when Astrid turned to look back, she saw Luciana knocked out and lying on the ground. A man wearing a cloth to cover his face looked at her with much intimidation with a huge rod in his hands. Before Astrid could raise alarm, he hit her across her face and she fell to the ground. She groaned in pain as she rubbed her face to ease the pain and stood up. She began to walk away from him but only walked deeper into the garden. On his belt were different symbols. There was a lotus flower, an ankh and an eye of Horus in the middle of the ankh. That was a strange image but it was not the time to think of how strange it was. Behind the man stood three other men. They did not seem interested in Luciana who still lay unconscious.
"Who are you ?" she asked."How dare you attack the Pharaoh's daughter in law."
"We don't care about your position. We are only here to finish you off!" he said and raised the rod before hitting her head and she lost balance.
She could not scream due to pain but managed to move away from him using her elbows.
"Let us finish the work before someone finds us," he said.
They all surrounded her and began to kick her hard as she tried to protect her stomach. She groaned and tried to beg them to leave her alone but only kicked and punched her harder and harder.
She could feel something warm drip across her face and her sight got blurrier and blurrier before everything turned pitch black.

"Astrid!"
She heard a man's voice cry out but she could not move or open her eyes.
"By the gods! What did they do to you."
She felt the man lift her and hold her in his arms. He turned her face to look at him as he pat her cheeks to get her to open her eyes.
"S...Seti," she managed to whisper as she clutched her stomach. The pain she was feeling was immense and she worried about the state of her unborn child.
"It's me. It's Smenkhhare."
He lifted her up and began to walk as fast as he could to her room as he called out loudly for Khafirin. The next thing she recalled was her troubled labour.
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"I haven't been well. I apologize for that but I am indeed grateful for saving me."
"You can't imagine how I felt when I realized that you were in danger. I couldn't help myself. I was on the verge of losing my mind at the thought of someone laying their finger on you. I felt torn apart when I found you barely breathing and covered in blood.I really love you Astrid,"he said as he walked towards her.
" Stop it! I am trying to be cordial with you because you are my husband's brother. Do not think that I have forgotten the time you forced yourself on me and even entered my chambers when I was bathing. Respect yourself and your wife. You also lost a child and you should be with her."
" But I don't love her. I tried to by being nice towards her when she was pregnant. It never worked and I just can't love her."
" Smenkhhare, leave me alone. I am still mourning my child. Go comfort your wife instead of forcing yourself onto me since it's clear that you felt nothing about your loss,"she said that and turned to leave.
" I did not feel anything ?" he spat." You dare say that I didn't ?" Did anybody ask me how I felt after losing the child ?" he said.
She stopped and looked back at the broken man in front of her.
"Nobody cared to ask me how I felt about it. Everyone thought that I never cared but no one , not even my wife asked about my feelings. Nobody was there to wipe away my tears when I cried myself to sleep at night so that nobody would see my tears. Nobody saw the hurt and how lost I felt during that time. Nobody knows how much I wanted to hold my child in my arms and finally have a family. It is all I wanted since I lost my mother. I wanted a complete family and it was taken away from me."
He was breathing heavily after saying all that and he wiped away his tears angrily and charged towards Astrid.
"You have no right to say that I am uncaring," he spat.
"I am sorry. I did not know that that was how you felt."
"Of course you didn't," he mocked as he looked at the vaulted ceiling above them."How would anyone know when no one cares about me."
"Smenkhhare, I.."
"Save it," he raised his hand to silence her before walking out on her. 
She bowed her head and closed her eyes as she tried to compose herself and finally went to her room to rest.

"You still feel so good. It is just like I remember it. Your soft skin and delightful scent," Baka said as he trailed his fingers on her arms and placed a kiss on her bare collarbone.
"We have an agreement. Stick to it," Rashida said as she looked away.
"Let's forget the agreement and do what I want to. Are you really not under the spell I cast on you before ?"
"Baka, I..."
"What ? You want me to work for you and not Meritaten. It comes at a price. See, she helped me rise up the ranks and now I am in charge of the household guards. You must help elevate my position."
" I promised you that, didn't I ? I approached you and asked for your help so I could find out how Meritaten planned the attack on Astrid. I know that you were a part of it and I will keep you from it all. I am more powerful than Meritaten now that she lost her child so make sure to align yourself with the right person."
" Are you telling me what to do ? You are at my mercy and I am the only one who can help you. Now, will I have what I want ?"
" Alright. Get on with it,"she said with a roll of her eyes.
" That's more like it,"he smirked.

Rashida walked quickly with Anippe following behind her. Once inside her room, she began to undress.
"I feel so dirty. I need a bath," she said as she was threw her dress and wig on the floor and entered her tub soaking her whole body inside the cold water.
She lifted her head out of the water and wiped away the water from her eyes.
"Scrub my body Anippe. I need to get rid of the filth from Baka."
" Y..yes,"Anippe stammered.
" I cannot believe that the price I have to pay to know the truth is to sleep with that dog."
" Do you really hate him that much ?"
" I hate him with all my being. I can't understand how I even fell for him. He disgusts me now. He makes me sick to my stomach whenever I see him or when he touches me. I feel filthy right now. I swear to the gods that that was the last time he will ever touch me. I cannot do this anymore. I will end things with him tomorrow. I will use other means to find the truth. What are you doing standing there! Get more water and perfume. I feel itchy,"she yelled as she scrubbed her body with a wash cloth.
Anippe stood up, looked at Rashida and left to get more water.