Daughter Of The Sea.

Chapter 16

Shelah was tidying the room. The queen was looking out the double doors, into the garden. Without turning, she addressed her chief lady-in-waiting.
"Our little escapade yesterday has created more questions than answers," the queen continued, thinking allowed.
"Are those boys... men, whatever, all sons from one king? Our king?
Who were the mothers?
They didn't all have the same features... or skin tones for that matter.
How long has this been going on?
There were so many, perhaps thirty? Forty?
They were all different ages.
Why don't I know anything about all of this?
Perhaps it's a tender subject, even a royal secret... Will I have my head chopped off if I even broach the subject?
I am queen but I have a daughter. Will one of these male children be made king when Ahab dies?
Oh my head spins, this is all too much. What am I to do? "

Shelah stopped working and walked over to the queen and put her arms around her shoulders.
" You must be strong. Until we have unravelled this mystery you must go about your business as if nothing is amiss. I will make discreet inquiries. I know people who can be trusted. The only thing I ask of you now is perhaps some coin which I can use to loosen the tongues of my informants.
Let me braid your hair and do your face. Go and work. Think not about this matter until I return."

The next few days were agony. Especially when Ahab was present. Putting on a pleasant appearance, when so many negative thoughts were rushing through her mind, sent Jezebel into fits of despair whenever she was alone.

The Queen was alone in her room. The nursing maids had just brought little Athaliah to her. If nothing else, Jezebel was drawn closer to her daughter during this time of anguish.

She lifted the child high and shook her gently from side to side. The baby smiled and giggled. She seemed to appreciate all the extra attention she was receiving from her mother lately and responded by laughing and smiling instead of crying.
Jezebel brought the baby down and snuggled her against her body. Instinctively Athaliah tried to find the teat that was always forthcoming when she was held in this position. Jezebel tried to turn the child's head away but Athaliah would have nothing of the sort. Jezebel's body did not produce enough milk when the baby was born, so she had to resort to a wet-nurse to feed the child. At the time, this arrangement suited the busy Queen and freed her to perform her other duties, both in the palace and at the Baal temple.

Alone with her daughter in the room, the Queen felt the strange urge to give in to her struggling child and the feeling welling up inside of her at that moment. She slid the robe off her shoulders. The baby immediately found what she was looking for.
Whether she had milk to give or not didn't seem to bother mother or child. The contentment was evident on both their faces. Jezebel realised in that moment that having her little baby daughter physically connected to her brought them together in a way that she had never realised before. Looking down at the sucking child she softly whispered.

"I will teach you to be strong, no man will dominate you. I will teach you how to rule over nations. You will know when men try and trick you and you will not fall for their treacherous ways.
I will teach you about your body. You will not be found wanting like your mother. I never had a mother to teach me but you will know how to be a lover, a wife and a mother.
I will teach you how to dance before our mother Asherah and you will sacrifice to our lord Baal."

The baby stopped sucking, looked up at her mother and smiled. Turned her head back towards her breast but not sucking, she fell fast asleep.

There was a soft knock at the door, the door opened and Shelah's head popped in.
"Everything OK?"
Jezebel indicated that she should enter. Shelah, seeing the baby asleep, whispered.
"Everything was so quiet, I became worried. This is a first. How did you manage to put her to sleep?"
The queen smiled and answered.
"I bored her with all my talking."