Daughter Of The Sea.

Chapter 15

The allotted day arrived. Jezebel met Shelah in the palace courtyard. Little Athaliah was safely tucked into the baby carriage. They left through a side gate. Just before exiting, the Queen donned Shelah's cloak. The temple guards from the Baal temple came casually down the street, keeping a desired distance.

As they walked along, baby Athaliah's head jerked from side to side. There was so much to see and so many new sounds vying for her attention.

The baby wasn't the only person whose interest was piqued. Jezebel found this whole experience very interesting.
Shelah just smiled. It was like taking two babies for a walk. She remarked, 
"It looks like my Queen is enjoying herself?"
Jezebel replied.
"How different it is being among the people who normally I see only from the tower window. Not only the sights but the smells as well." Immediately Jezebel put her hand to her nose and pulled a face as a herdsman drove his flock of goats past them down the street. When they had passed, the Queen quickly came alongside the baby carriage to see if the smell had affected her daughter, but baby Athaliah was sound asleep.

"I think this experience will be of great benefit to you, " Shelah remarked casually as they walked.
"How so?" Jezebel asked.
"Well, if you are going to have serious input in the running of the country, is it not a good thing to see how life is lived at ground level instead of just making decisions in a stateroom?
" Mmm! " Jezebel thought, "I suppose so." and then quickly added, "I will have to see a lot more to feel really well informed." She said this with a sly smile on her face. Shelah knew instinctively that the Queen was enjoying herself and this would be the first of many such outings.

As they ambled down one of the streets, they passed a high wall. The sound of children playing could be heard coming from the other side. Jezebel stopped and stood listening and eventually asked.
"What is this place?"
Shelah stood softly shaking the baby-carriage, hoping the baby wouldn't wake up because they had stopped walking. She answered.
"I have no idea. Must be some sort of school or children's home. The main building is just up ahead. Let's find out."

The two women walked a bit further. They came to a large ornate wooden door with brass fittings. Shelah gave Jezebel one last look, took a deep breath and rapped on the door using the big brass door knocker.
They could hear footsteps coming nearer. The door opened. Filling the entire doorway stood a large gruumsh-looking woman with her hands on her hips. She glared at the two women in the street. Her gaze rested on the baby as she said,
"Yes?"
"We were wondering what sort of institution this is? We hear children playing. Is this a school of some sort." Shelah asked, taking a step forward and trying to peer around the human blockage
"Why do you want to know?" the woman inquired.

Shelah had to think quickly. To make the inquiry sound genuine she had to come up with a legitimate excuse for asking.
An idea popped into her head. She pointed to the baby and explained.
"We heard the children and the mother of this child wondered if this was a school. She is interested in sending her little one to a good school."

The woman burst out laughing, her protruding stomach bouncing up and down. When she had her mirth more or less under control, her face returned to the stern expression she displayed when she had opened the door. She growled her answer.
" You will never be able to afford entrance even if this was a school. In either case you don't look like royalty to me. You're wasting my time. Go!"

The woman spun round, slamming the door in Shelah's face.
Jezebel slowly looked up. She had been looking downwards during this exchange for fear of being recognised but now she couldn't contain herself anymore.
" What a rude human being! "she exclaimed, "and what did she mean we're not royalty? Now I'm really curious. How are we ever going to find out more about this place?"

Both women looked and felt rather glum. They continued their walk down the street passing a service lane which marked the end of the large building, the function of which they hadn't been able to ascertain.
The lane was a hive of activity. Tradesmen delivering food of every description. Milk and fresh water, vegetables, meat and even clothing.

Shelah had a hard time manoeuvring the baby-carriage between all the people coming and going. Jezebel kept her head down. She hadn't expected to come across so many people in what was supposed to be a quiet street. Even the guards of the Baal temple, who followed, were hard-pressed to keep sight of the Queen. They bobbed up and down looking over the heads of the tradesmen, trying to locate the women they were supposed to be protecting.

Finally, they made it through the medley of service people.
They had only gone a few paces when suddenly Shelah turned around, grabbed Athaliah from the carriage and started to head back into the service lane. Jezebel couldn't believe her eyes. She shouted after Shelah,
"What are you doing?"
Shelah turned and shouted back,
"I have an idea. Come on, follow me!"

The temple guards had just freed themselves from the milling crowd, only to find the two women doubling back. They looked at each other, bewildered. They shrugged their shoulders and followed suit.

Shelah led the others back into the service lane, and made her way to the doorway where all the activity seemed to be centered. She pushed her way through and found herself in an enormous kitchen. While the tradesmen were delivering their goods to an adjacent storeroom, the kitchen was filled with cooks and kitchen maids busily preparing food. Shelah sought out a young girl peeling potatoes. In her most business-like manner, Shelah spoke.
"Excuse me, we are here to make clothes for the children. We would like to get an idea of how many there are and the sizes of the children. Is there any vantage point where we could see all the children at one time without disturbing them?"

The young maid didn't even look up, she merely nodded her head, dried her hands on her apron and said,
"Follow me."
She led them up a staircase, across a hallway and after opening some double doors, ushered them onto a balcony. The moment she opened the doors, the noise of all the children playing in the courtyard hit them.

The maid turned to go and said.
"Please close the doors when you leave. You can go out the way you came, through the kitchen. I must go now before I'm missed."
It was Jezebel, who after having cast a quick glance over the children, took hold of the maid's arm and inquired.
"Where do they keep all the girls? I see only male children here"
The maid gave her a puzzled look,
"Surely you know there are only male children here, though I'd hardly call some of them children. This is
THE ROYAL HOME FOR THE KING'S SONS."