Ch4
Nefertiri froze at the sound of the man's voice. "No! It is Alizoth," thought Nefertiri in fear. She quickly turned around to face Alizoth.
"Where have you been, princess? Your father has returned. He is angry."
"I…I…I…" Nefertiri's mind went blank.
"Well, where were you? Nevermind, now I must take you home," said the med- jai pulling her along.
"No!!!" said Nefertiri, "I cannot go back home. I must stay. I want to stay," said the princess with plea in her voice. "Please, go back to the palace and tell my father you did not find me."
"But that is much worse, then the pharaoh will send out the Royal Army. No. I am sorry, Nefertiri, but you are coming with me." Nefetiri dropped Tefen's food as she was pulled by the med-jai. What would Tefen think when she did not bring him his food. When she was not home waiting for him?
As they entered the palace an angry pharaoh as heard.
"Princess, I advice you to change out of those clothes before you go converse with your father," Nefertiri just gave Alizoth a cold look ad walked to her chamber.
She changed into more proper attire and walked to her father's chamber.
"I do not want any excuses as to why you did this. All I want to know is where you were and what you did?" said the pharaoh with blood rushing to his face.
"Father, I…I…I"
"You what?"
"I don't want to talk about it," said she with tears forming in her eyes.
"So the princess does not want to talk about it. Fine!!! Now you are to stay within your chambers until I say otherwise. The doors to your balcony shall be closed. Nobody and I mean NOBODY shall speak to you or you to them. You shall have no other contact then that of the servants and that is only when they fetch you your meals. I do not want you in my sight until it is time for you to tell me where you have spent this time and with whom. Go!!!" with hand pointed at the door and with anger marking his visage he dismissed his daughter.
Nefertiri was unable to speak or even hardly breath. She had never seen her father that angry before. What had she done she knew was wrong but for reasons know to her she felt otherwise. Within her chambers, she threw herself on the bed and began to cry frantically. She cried for herself, for Tefen and even for her father. Within her cries she fall asleep. The next day she awoke to complete silence.
She thought that everything that she had lived through had been a dream, that these last weeks with Tefen and his love had been a dream. However, the humble clothing that she had worn soon came to sight. They had been piled by her bed upon her arrival and that is where they still layed. With renewed strength Nefertiri looked for a place to escape or rather to return to him, Tefen. She ran to her balcony but found the doors all locked. Then to the windows but those too were locked which meant that she had no way to leave. Nefertiri returned to her bed as tears began to stream down her face.
Later that morning she heard the click of a lock and realized that it was her door. Quickly she faced the door and found one of the servants bringing her some food.
"Oh, please help me!!! You must help me get out of here."
The girl ignored her pleas and soon was gone. With the pass of each day nothing changed. The servants continued to ignore Nefertiri while her sobs continued. After two weeks of this Nefertiri knew that if she was to ever see Tefen or the outside of her room again she had to do something, anything. On that day when the servants arrived once again tried to talk to her.
"Please talk to me, please. Ok, fine. If you will not talk to me, then tell my father that I will speak to him. Did you hear me? Tell my father that I will speak to him."
Once again she was ignored, yet within an hour Seti appeared in her room.
"So you have decided to speak to me. You have me here, now speak."
Nefertiri did not know what to say. As Seti sat on her bed, she began to pace around the room.
"Shall I leave or do you want to begin explaining where you were."
She continued to pace and he began to stand from her bed in annunciation of his departure.
"No! Father wait. I will tell you anything you want to hear, but please you have to stop this. I cannot stand to be in this room anymore. I cannot stand this silence," said she desperately.
Seti began to sit again and calmly asked his daughter to continue.
"Well, you see, I really wanted to wait for your return, but I couldn't…I would look outside and see all that would go around and…I felt trapped because I could not be out there. So one night I decided to go outside."
Nefertiri stopped for a while trying to think of what to say next. Then she remembered Zonja. She was the oldest servant in the palace and had known both her and her mother since their birth. Zonja had promised Nefertiri that her help would always be available if she was ever in trouble. Nefertiri hoped that this would be one of those always and made up some story of how she had stayed with Zonja's family during her estrangement from the palace.
"Why did you not tell me this before?" asked Seti half relieved, but also half believing his daughter.
" I was worried that you would not believe me and that you would punish Zonja or her family for helping me."
"You think that I would actually punish or hurt them?" asked Seti.
"I guess I did. I am sorry. It is just that when I returned you were so angered. I had never seen you that way and it scared me."
Seti reached for Nefertiri and kept her in an embrace. He repeated the words "oh, my foolish girl," until he finally let go of her. He kissed her on the forehead and was on his way to speak to Zonja to see how truthful his daughter story had been; yet he never told this to Nefertiri who knew quite well that those would be his actions.
"Is it true that my daughter stayed with your family during her flee?"
At first Zonja did not understand what he was implying, but quickly she remembered that Seti had been to Nefertiri's chamber and that she must have added her to the story in search of help.
"Yes, she did, my lord," was her reply as she avoided his gaze.
"Why did you not tell me of her whereabouts upon my return?" asked he.
"My lord, as you may remember during your return I was not at the palace. I had been called to help my granddaughter with the delivery of her child."
"Then how do you know that my daughter actually was with some of your relatives?"
"My lord, I had known because I brought her to them and I visited her once or twice during that time. If you wish to speak to them I…"
"That is not necessary, Zonja. You have served me for many years and I trust your words," said Seti.
Seti sent Zonja away and gave orders for his daughter to be freed from her chamber. However, he did not want this to occur again, therefore that led him to search for a way to keep an eye on his daughter.
"Alizoth, I need you to place one of your most trusted man to watch over my daughter. It must be somebody strong, intelligent and patient enough to deal with the young princess."
"I have just then man for the job," answered Alizoth confidently.
Alizoth had the perfect man in mind and he went for him.
"I am not here as a friend but as your leader. I have come here to give you your first assignment as a med-jai. It is something that you cannot refuse, so therefore you must do it," said Alizoth seriously.
"Yes, I am ready. I will do anything."
"I am glad that you are so exited about this assignment."
"Tell me what it is that I must do," said exitedly the new med-jai.
"You must watch over the pharaoh's daughter," Alizoth waited for some response but received none. "She is a bit difficult, but I am sure not so difficult that you cannot deal with," finished Alizoth with a smile.
"You want me to be somebody's babysitter?!!"
"No, her personal bodyguard. As I already said it is something that you cannot object to. Now, we need you to be at the palace as soon as possible…and bring some of your belongings for you will be staying there as long as you are needed."
Alizoth left his friend to continue with his work at the palace. The young man who now had the duty of guarding the princess quickly gathered his belongings but within his mind he objected to the idea of being a "babysitter" as he called it.
"This is wonderful, I worked so hard and for what? To just end up babysitting some brat."
End of ch4
Nefertiri froze at the sound of the man's voice. "No! It is Alizoth," thought Nefertiri in fear. She quickly turned around to face Alizoth.
"Where have you been, princess? Your father has returned. He is angry."
"I…I…I…" Nefertiri's mind went blank.
"Well, where were you? Nevermind, now I must take you home," said the med- jai pulling her along.
"No!!!" said Nefertiri, "I cannot go back home. I must stay. I want to stay," said the princess with plea in her voice. "Please, go back to the palace and tell my father you did not find me."
"But that is much worse, then the pharaoh will send out the Royal Army. No. I am sorry, Nefertiri, but you are coming with me." Nefetiri dropped Tefen's food as she was pulled by the med-jai. What would Tefen think when she did not bring him his food. When she was not home waiting for him?
As they entered the palace an angry pharaoh as heard.
"Princess, I advice you to change out of those clothes before you go converse with your father," Nefertiri just gave Alizoth a cold look ad walked to her chamber.
She changed into more proper attire and walked to her father's chamber.
"I do not want any excuses as to why you did this. All I want to know is where you were and what you did?" said the pharaoh with blood rushing to his face.
"Father, I…I…I"
"You what?"
"I don't want to talk about it," said she with tears forming in her eyes.
"So the princess does not want to talk about it. Fine!!! Now you are to stay within your chambers until I say otherwise. The doors to your balcony shall be closed. Nobody and I mean NOBODY shall speak to you or you to them. You shall have no other contact then that of the servants and that is only when they fetch you your meals. I do not want you in my sight until it is time for you to tell me where you have spent this time and with whom. Go!!!" with hand pointed at the door and with anger marking his visage he dismissed his daughter.
Nefertiri was unable to speak or even hardly breath. She had never seen her father that angry before. What had she done she knew was wrong but for reasons know to her she felt otherwise. Within her chambers, she threw herself on the bed and began to cry frantically. She cried for herself, for Tefen and even for her father. Within her cries she fall asleep. The next day she awoke to complete silence.
She thought that everything that she had lived through had been a dream, that these last weeks with Tefen and his love had been a dream. However, the humble clothing that she had worn soon came to sight. They had been piled by her bed upon her arrival and that is where they still layed. With renewed strength Nefertiri looked for a place to escape or rather to return to him, Tefen. She ran to her balcony but found the doors all locked. Then to the windows but those too were locked which meant that she had no way to leave. Nefertiri returned to her bed as tears began to stream down her face.
Later that morning she heard the click of a lock and realized that it was her door. Quickly she faced the door and found one of the servants bringing her some food.
"Oh, please help me!!! You must help me get out of here."
The girl ignored her pleas and soon was gone. With the pass of each day nothing changed. The servants continued to ignore Nefertiri while her sobs continued. After two weeks of this Nefertiri knew that if she was to ever see Tefen or the outside of her room again she had to do something, anything. On that day when the servants arrived once again tried to talk to her.
"Please talk to me, please. Ok, fine. If you will not talk to me, then tell my father that I will speak to him. Did you hear me? Tell my father that I will speak to him."
Once again she was ignored, yet within an hour Seti appeared in her room.
"So you have decided to speak to me. You have me here, now speak."
Nefertiri did not know what to say. As Seti sat on her bed, she began to pace around the room.
"Shall I leave or do you want to begin explaining where you were."
She continued to pace and he began to stand from her bed in annunciation of his departure.
"No! Father wait. I will tell you anything you want to hear, but please you have to stop this. I cannot stand to be in this room anymore. I cannot stand this silence," said she desperately.
Seti began to sit again and calmly asked his daughter to continue.
"Well, you see, I really wanted to wait for your return, but I couldn't…I would look outside and see all that would go around and…I felt trapped because I could not be out there. So one night I decided to go outside."
Nefertiri stopped for a while trying to think of what to say next. Then she remembered Zonja. She was the oldest servant in the palace and had known both her and her mother since their birth. Zonja had promised Nefertiri that her help would always be available if she was ever in trouble. Nefertiri hoped that this would be one of those always and made up some story of how she had stayed with Zonja's family during her estrangement from the palace.
"Why did you not tell me this before?" asked Seti half relieved, but also half believing his daughter.
" I was worried that you would not believe me and that you would punish Zonja or her family for helping me."
"You think that I would actually punish or hurt them?" asked Seti.
"I guess I did. I am sorry. It is just that when I returned you were so angered. I had never seen you that way and it scared me."
Seti reached for Nefertiri and kept her in an embrace. He repeated the words "oh, my foolish girl," until he finally let go of her. He kissed her on the forehead and was on his way to speak to Zonja to see how truthful his daughter story had been; yet he never told this to Nefertiri who knew quite well that those would be his actions.
"Is it true that my daughter stayed with your family during her flee?"
At first Zonja did not understand what he was implying, but quickly she remembered that Seti had been to Nefertiri's chamber and that she must have added her to the story in search of help.
"Yes, she did, my lord," was her reply as she avoided his gaze.
"Why did you not tell me of her whereabouts upon my return?" asked he.
"My lord, as you may remember during your return I was not at the palace. I had been called to help my granddaughter with the delivery of her child."
"Then how do you know that my daughter actually was with some of your relatives?"
"My lord, I had known because I brought her to them and I visited her once or twice during that time. If you wish to speak to them I…"
"That is not necessary, Zonja. You have served me for many years and I trust your words," said Seti.
Seti sent Zonja away and gave orders for his daughter to be freed from her chamber. However, he did not want this to occur again, therefore that led him to search for a way to keep an eye on his daughter.
"Alizoth, I need you to place one of your most trusted man to watch over my daughter. It must be somebody strong, intelligent and patient enough to deal with the young princess."
"I have just then man for the job," answered Alizoth confidently.
Alizoth had the perfect man in mind and he went for him.
"I am not here as a friend but as your leader. I have come here to give you your first assignment as a med-jai. It is something that you cannot refuse, so therefore you must do it," said Alizoth seriously.
"Yes, I am ready. I will do anything."
"I am glad that you are so exited about this assignment."
"Tell me what it is that I must do," said exitedly the new med-jai.
"You must watch over the pharaoh's daughter," Alizoth waited for some response but received none. "She is a bit difficult, but I am sure not so difficult that you cannot deal with," finished Alizoth with a smile.
"You want me to be somebody's babysitter?!!"
"No, her personal bodyguard. As I already said it is something that you cannot object to. Now, we need you to be at the palace as soon as possible…and bring some of your belongings for you will be staying there as long as you are needed."
Alizoth left his friend to continue with his work at the palace. The young man who now had the duty of guarding the princess quickly gathered his belongings but within his mind he objected to the idea of being a "babysitter" as he called it.
"This is wonderful, I worked so hard and for what? To just end up babysitting some brat."
End of ch4