Queen down
It was mid-morning in the Palace, Atem had been at a meeting & was making his way back to check on Loretta who he had left to rest in their chamber, she had been very tired recently & with the birth of their fourth child not too far away they days seemed like they went on forever & she got exhausted very quickly.
Walking through the hallways Atem could hear a noise that sounded like a dog barking, there were wolves in the Palace, which belonged to the King & Queen but this noise was different. Just then it struck him "oh no...Loretta" he said as he started to move at a faster pace, coming to the chamber door he opened it to see Loretta sitting on the floor on her knees with her hand on her chest & tears in her eyes, kneeling down next to her & placing his hand on her back "Loretta...whats wrong" he said looking very concerned "My...chest hurts" she said trying to clear her throat & get her voice back "I heard a strange noise before, it sounded like it was comming from in here"
Loretta just slowly nodded her head "It was me" she said with a very raspy voice "I was coughing...could i have...some water...please" "Oh no...i hope she hasnt gotten this for me...Sssh no more talking, i dont want you hurting your throat, lay down on the bed & rest, i will look after you" he said taking off his cape & crown & handing her a glass of water. Nodding in agreement she slowly drunk the glass of water then layed down "You need your rest Loretta, i dont want you unwell when our baby arrives" he said putting the back of his hand on her forehead "oh, your really hot, i think you are coming down with a fever" he said going over to the basin & filling a bowl with water & placing a clean wet cloth on her forehead "Oh my dear, you always try to be so strong even at your weakest point, no matter what i will stay with you, even if i have to give up my duties to be by your side until you are well enough to be on your throne again" dropping to his knees & picking up her hand & kissing it, turning her head to look at Atem giving him a weak smile "I...Love you...At-.." whispered Loretta as her voice gave out, cupping the side of his face, caressing his cheek with her thumb
She watched as his eyes welled up with tears "I love you too Loretta, now try & get some rest i need to go & have a word to Seto" said Atem putting his crown back on & hesitantly walking backwards towards the door "{Seto...can you hear me...}" "{Atem...is everything ok...you sound worried}" "{I am...Lorettas fallen ill & i need a word with you...are you busy}" "{Is she going to be ok?...No Sir, Im in my chamber with my Son}" "{good, i will be with you in a moment}", shutting off the mindlink he made his way towards Seto's room. "Hey where are you going mr, come back here you little tiger" said Seto playfully to his Son, just then a knock came at the door "Its that you Atem..." "Yes..." "come in & have a seat" "Thank you Seto" he said taking a seat on the edge of the bed with his eyes downcast "Is everything ok, what did you want to speak to me about" said Seto watching Sabek out of the corner of his eye "No im afraid it isnt, i dont know what is wrong with Loretta but i need to look after her & in doing so i want you to become Pharaoh temporarily" "What?! Me, why?" "Well you are my cousin Seto & both my Daughter & Son are too young to rule, it will only be untill Loretta is well enough, a week tops, i will give you my puzzle so the rest of the guard know to respect you as they do me" said Atem taking the puzzle off from around his neck & handing it to Seto "I dont know what to say, i dont know if im going to be able to do this" he said taking the puzzle & looking at it "Dont forget Seto, its only temporary, i will expect my puzzle back once Loretta is back to full health & you can do this, ive seen your leadership skills, you have to just believe in yourself" "Ok, i will try, thank you Atem, it is a great honour to know that you trust me" "Why shouldnt I? We are family, now that you have the you can go back to using my name instead of my title, for now & if you could let everyone else know" "Its going to be hard not to call you Pharaoh" he said with a chuckle "That is all my Pharaoh, i will take my leave now & go back to Loretta" he said with a low bow "I believe you have a meeting tonight too your majesty" & smirk "Thank you Atem, would it be ok if i brought Sabek to see Loretta before the meeting" "Yes, i suppose that would be ok but i wouldnt want the little fella getting sick also" "I will give you sometime with her then i will talk to you via mindlink to see when she is awake" "That will be fine, i will see you soon King Seto" said Atem with a bow as he walked out the door.
In the king & Queens chamber Atem sat with Loretta tending to her, changing & rinsing out the cloth that sat on her forehead, just then a knock came at the door "Enter" said Atem as he gently wiped Loretta's face with the cool wet cloth "Atem?" said Isis hesitantly as she didnt really like calling her king by his name but knew what the temporary circumstances were "Oh, hello Isis" "Is everything ok, would you like me to take over looking after the Queen" "...Thank you, but i can do it, she is my wife & i vowed to look after her the day we got married" "Seto told us what happened & how you made him King temporarily but you will always be my King no matter what Atem, If you would like to have a rest then i can tend to her for afew hours" "Your not going to give up are you Isis" Atem said with a smirk & taking his crown off "No sir" said Isis with a small chuckle "Ok Isis i conceed, i will let you look after Loretta while i rest, now my crown is off, so no more formalities" "Ok, i will try" "Thank you Isis" he said taking a seat on the couch near the balcony entrance.
After a few hours of much needed sleep Atem awoke up to the sound of Loretta coughing, it sounded horrible & his heart ached to hear his wife in such an unwell state "Aww my poor sweet Loretta" he said getting up then sitting next to her on the bed, rubbing his hand back & forth across her back "She will be ok Atem, im here, did you get enough rest" "I believe i did, thank you" "Can...I have...a drink, please" said Loretta in croaky voice "I will get it for you, you stay with her Isis "Thank...you...Atem" "ssh just rest Loretta, you dont want to loose your voice completely" said Atem handing her the glass, "does that feel better" slowly nodding Loretta started to lay down but she had a strange feeling in her stomach, with her head not even hitting the pillow she jumped out of bed & ran towards the bathroom with her hand over her mouth "Loretta? You can go now Isis, i can take it from here with her" "Ok Atem if you need me i will b-..." said Isis as her sentence was cut short by the sound of Loretta being sick, walking into the bathroom Atem saw Loretta leaning over the basin with yellow fluid dripping from her lip "Loretta..." Atem said moving her hair out of her face "I hope it wasnt because of me that you are unwell, are you going to be ok now..." "I...think so" she said spitting out what was in her mouth into the basin "I think i need some fresh air, if you would like to join me" said Loretta with a smirk walking out on to the balcony. Standing next to her & putting his arm around her waist "Loretta...im really worried about you" "im fine Atem, dont worry so much, i know you care about me but i will be ok, i just need abit more rest" said Loretta as she leaned over onto Atems shoulder
Feeling the hotness of her face against the side of his cheek he reached over gently touching her forehead "Oh, you need to get back to bed Loretta, you are burning up again" "Im fine Atem...dont worry so much" "No" said Atem in a stern tone "You are unwell & need your rest" he said picking her up bridal style & carrying her to the bed, gently placing her down "Oh Loretta, i dont know what i am going to do with you" he thought shaking his head while he placed a wet cloth on her forehead.
Weeks passed & Loretta still remained unwell, by now Atem was starting to worry & stress, it was getting to him about how unwell his wife was & she didnt seem to be getting any better "I think i need to go to Isis, maybe she can do something to help Loretta" , walking out the door & into the hallway he headed towards Isis' room "I cant let Loretta die, she means so much to me to let her go" he thought as tears welled up in his eyes "Atem...Is everything ok" said a voice as he felt a hand on his shoulder stopping him in his tracks "Oh, Hello Seto...No,its not..." he said wiping a the stray tear off his cheek with side of his hand "Oh, is Loretta still unwell, im so sorry Atem, i wish there was something that i could do" "Its ok Seto, im just going to go & see Isis to see if there is anything that she can do, Im turning into a nervous wreck Seto, i dont want to loose her, she's been like this for weeks & anything & everything i do doesnt seem to help at all &..." "Atem!...Snap out of it! Its not your fault" Seto said almost yelling as he watched his cousin breaking down infront of him "You have done everything you can to help her, you even gave up your title to be by her side, its going to be ok but you need to be strong, just believe in yourself, like you told me to".
Starting to feel a little more confident & regaining his composure "Thank you Seto, i needed that, im glad you are my cousin" "Thank you Atem, that means alot coming from you, I know you are worried about Loretta, but so is the whole Palace, she's our Queen & no one wants anything to happen to her but dont get so worked up about it, everyone is here for you & her" "I suppose you are right" he said with a sigh "I cant carry on like this i have to be strong for Loretta, thank you again Seto, now if you would excuse me i need to see Isis" "Good luck Atem & i hope Loretta gets better soon".
Walking in opposite directions Atem finally got to Isis' room, knocking on the door "Isis, are you there" "Im here Atem, come in" "Thank you, i need to talk to you" "Is it about the Queen?" "Yes...Im afraid she's still not well" "Oh dear, how can i help" "I was wondering if you had something that could at least help Loretta with her fever, if that goes, then she could be up & by my side again" "Oh...um, yes i might have...aha! heres something, a potion i made up for you back when you were a prince" "Me?...When i was Prince?" "Yes, you went through this exact same thing, your Father was really worried for you when he enlisted my help to make a cure...It doesnt work right away but after a good nights sleep it should work for the Queen" "What do you mean should, Isis?" "Well...you were alot younger than the Queen is now & sometimes medicine works quicker on young people" "Oh...So what do we do if this medicine doesnt work" taking the bottle out of Isis' hand, with tears comming to his eyes "I cant say...Im sorry Atem, we just need to pray that it does work" "What do you mean you cant say?" "Well, what i mean to say is, is that its never not worked but..." "but what Isis, you are really testing my patience" said Atem as his hand squeezed tighter around the neck of the bottle
"You know how important this medicine is, dont give me a reason to start doubting you Isis!" "Im sorry my King, i just dont want to think about what is going to happen to the Queen if it doesnt work" "No! Dont even talk like that, i wont hear it, I will make sure Loretta gets better even if i have to give up my own life" "Please forgive me Atem" she said bowing "Its ok Isis" he said putting his free hand on her shoulder "I know you also are concerned about Loretta, but please dont talk like she is going to die, i already lost the only other important women in my life & I feel so blessed that met someone like Loretta & would hate for her to be taken away from me" "Yes, i know, your Father was never the same once your Mother died & then when you took ill, he couldnt bare it, He actually acted the same way you did & have been with Loretta being unwell, you are more like your Father than you know Atem" she said with a sad smile "Thank you Isis, i miss my Father so much...Sigh I should get back to Loretta with this" "Please keep me updated on any progress the Queen makes whether it be good...or bad, im sorry i had to say that but it had to be said" "Ok i will, thank you again Isis" he said with a nod as he walked out the door "I really hope this stuff works" he thought as he looked at the pink liquid in the bottle as he walked back to his chambers.
Three days had passed & the Queen had gotten abit better but not enough to keep her out of bed, she was still in no condition to be up for long periods of time, now Atem had a difficult choice to make, would he make his cousin King permanently so that he could be by Lorettas side 24/7 or would he take his title back & just hope for the best, both options were very risky & he didnt want to risk Loretta's life anymore than what it was. What was he to do, He needed to talk to Loretta but she didnt even have enough energy to get up & go to the Bathroom unassisted let alone sit & talk, but he had to do something, he dreaded having to say goodbye to her but if it was the way it had to happen he had to prepare himself mentally & physically for it, Not to mention their four child was due in a matter of weeks now but in this state Atem doubted that Loretta had that much time left.
Pulling a chair up next to her at the bed & placing his hand on top of hers, tears formed in his eyes as he watched her slowly breathe in & then out, she look so beautiful when she was asleep, he didnt want to see her like this forever, he wanted to see her beautiful Sapphire blue eyes that he loved so much, it couldnt end like this "Im sorry ive let you down Loretta, i dont know what to do anymore, ive lost all hope...I love you my Queen, Loretta Tutankhamun*" As he finished whipsering her name he found that her pulse was no longer there & her breathing had stopped, she was gone, he couldnt believe it, sliding off the chair & onto the floor onto his knees still holding her hand her cried loudly "Please Loretta, come back, its not fair! It should have been me, not you, Loretta!..." he said breaking down into tears on the floor.
Hearing such a loud wail coming from Atems chamber Seto thought it would be a good idea to check on Atem & see what was going on, little did he know he was going to see his cousin the Great Pharaoh in a state he had never seen him in before "Atem...Is everyth-" he said as he walked through the door to seem Atem down on the floor with his head bowed & tears streaming from his eyes, still holding Loretta's lifeless hand "Whats happened" said Seto in a whisper kneeling down next to Atem "she's...gone, Seto...i couldnt...save her" said Atem through his sobs. Bringing him up slowly embracing him in a hug Seto held Atem & let him let it out on his shoulder "Im so sorry Atem" said Seto as he also began to cry "we have to tell everyone the news so that we can make the appropriate arrangements for her final goodbye" "I-I cant believe shes gone Seto...I was really looking forward to meeting my second Son, it's just not fair, she was so young. Come, we better go & tell the rest of the royal guard about this sad news" said Atem as he cleared away any tears that were in his eyes.
Just as the two boys were about to walk out the door, coughing was heard by Seto from the other side of the room "No...It cant be" thought Seto glancing over his shoulder "Hey, hold up Atem, i think you might want to see this" he said as he watched in amazment as Loretta opened her eyes & began to sit up "Sigh I dont want to look at her anymore Seto just let me mourn in peace" "I think you are going to like what you see" "Seto...That is enough!" Atem said with a low growl, grabbing his hand & dragging him back into the room "Atem..." said Loretta weakly seeing Atems eyes were still downcast "I love you too, Atem Tutankhamun" looking up with widened eyes hearing his full name which only Loretta knew "Loretta! Is that you...a-are you really alive" he said in diebelief & starting to cry again but this time happy tears "Its me Atem...Im sorry to have scared you" running over & embracing her tightly "I thought i had lost you Loretta, oh how is the baby" he said placing his hand gently on her bump "I think hes ok, it was his kicking that brought me back out of the state i was in" said Loretta placing her hand on top of Atems "What do you mean...state, you were dead, you had stopped breathing & had no pulse" "Well..."
Uh oh Cliffy
*(A.N:- Yes ive made Atem's surname as another Egyptian pharaoh, but ive always called him Atemu Tutankhamun)