If You Feel Better

Chapter 78

"My pharaoh, we have prepared a honey-roasted gazelle served with pomegranates and assorted berries paired with a date beer. Please enjoy."

A team of chefs bowed in front of the pharaoh and his priests, a vast spread of meats, cheeses, breads, and fruits served to them on decorative plates, nary a chip, dent, or crack to be found. They were already full, stuffed to the brim with many other courses that came before, but still forced themselves to eat in the name of ensuring sufficient quality.

The pharaoh was taking this New Year's festival more seriously than any other religious holiday he had ever observed during his reign. It was more of a memorial to Aya than a traditional celebration, but the ultimate conclusion was not for the priests to make. They could provide advice based on their personal perspectives, but as with any monarchy, the king had the final say. Still they followed him loyally and desired to aid him to the best of their abilities, so if he ordered them to eat and critique, they did so with gusto.

The pharaoh gorged himself on the meat in front of him, unable to stuff even another bite in his mouth. He pushed away his plate, the sight of more food making him sick. "It has all been delicious," he deep voice echoing in the large chamber. "But we're not looking for sit-down restaurant food. I want the food that is sold in the marketplace stalls. Food vendors are not serving plates of honey-roasted gazelle. Each city already has taverns that provide this type of cuisine. I'm looking for caterers that can set up in a city and serve the most delicious and quickest street food known to this country. Mahad–" He turned to look at his most loyal subject who was equally as delirious with a stomach overstuffed with a divine feast. "–there must have been a disconnect. I thought I said to get talented chefs for street food."

Silently belching into his closed fist, Mahad explained "You said to find the best chefs money could buy. You made no mention of street food, my pharaoh."

"Well, that explains the issue," the king said, slumping in his chair from his massive stomachache. Directing his question at the culinary artists, he asked "Are you able to produce street food?"

The head chef bowed and responded "Yes, my pharaoh. I can do anything you wish."

"Very well," he said, sitting back up in his chair to regain some regal stature. "I want tiger nut sweets, honey cakes, and other popular street foods lining the streets of every city. I want them all made well, every bite delicious. Mahad, find me others. I want no one to go hungry. Every citizen is to have as much as their stomachs can handle."

"Yes, my pharaoh!" the room rang out.

~

Aya had a grin plastered to her face as she rode on the back of a horse towards the town. She couldn't stop staring at the sky, finding its hue to be the most beautiful color in the world. The sun was so warm and bright, beating down on her clothes in a way she used to despise, but had grown to miss over the course of her solitude.

Her happiness was not lost on Bakura, who was sitting right behind her on the same horse, leading the group of his men at the front of the pack. Her mouth was covered by a headscarf he had forced her to wear to conceal her identity, but her smile was evident by the radiant glow in her eyes that were lost among the clouds.

The simple pleasures she reveled in amused him. He had expected only the finest, most expensive, and rarest treasures could satisfy a princess who was given everything the moment she asked, but that could not further from the truth when it came to Aya. In fact, he found that the smallest gestures pleased her most of all. It was one of the many qualities that drew him to her, and even now, he couldn't stop gazing her joyful expression.

He had a vivid picture in his mind of their future marriage: both dressed head to toe with clothing and jewelry inlaid with glistening gold, sitting atop thrones that held all of the power, Egypt shrouded in darkness while they ruled with an iron fist, eating only the finest cuisine, annihilating their enemies, going through thick and thin with each other by their side, conquering the world beneath their feet. He was determined to make that dream a reality, obliterating every obstacle in his way to make it possible.