Disclaimer/Author's Note: Here it is! Honestly, I have been planning and anticipating this chapter ever since I decided I was going to write this story! But, I will have you know right now that I've changed my mind about how this chapter plays out about 5 or 6 times. Have you seen the movie Alex and Emma? In it, Alex talks about how the characters in his novel tell him the plot, because their personalities write the stories themselves. That is absolutely how I have felt writing this. Yosef's character has rewritten this for me :) I want to warn you ahead of time: this chapter is long! Maybe too much so, but…well, you'll see! ;)
Before I go on, I would like you all to know that I am dedicating this chapter to rainpaint!! She has been my most constant and supportive reviewer, and she was also the first to realize the reason for the title of this story. Thank you so much! I can't even tell you how it makes my day when I check my email and see that I have a new review from you! Thank you thank you thank you rainpaint!!
Obviously, I do not own the Bible, or any of the people therein. Ebio and Raziya belong to me, but no one else. Don't sue.
Chapter 10
It was dusk before I saw or heard from anyone else, even servants. My mother came to me with a tray of food, an armful of fabric, and a weary, grim look on her face. She was trying to be cheerful and pretend like nothing was wrong, but her voice kept breaking when she told me that the fabric was so that I had something with which to occupy myself for however long I was imprisoned there. I smiled for her, and thanked her for being so considerate, and we fell into uneasy small talk as I ate. When I had finished, she was quiet for several moments. And when she began talking again, it was in a soft, solemn voice.
"Your father wants me to convince you to change your mind. Tell me, my daughter: Will anything I say somehow sway your decision?"
I shook my head. "No. I am resolute."
She sighed, deeply and wearily, as though under some terrible burden that was more tiresome than painful. "Very well. Then I will make no further attempt. And she reached out her arms and held me, as a mother should. "I love you, my daughter. And your father loves you too, though he has forgotten how to show it. But you are no longer a child, and must make decisions for yourself." And with that, she took the empty tray and left me to my prison.
Seven days passed in much the same way. My mother came to my room twice a day and brought me food and fabric. The hours between were spent sleeping, sewing, and praying to my God. I got to know Him better, and my sewing abilities increased greatly as the days passed. I made countless new dresses, each one more elaborate than the last.
The eighth day began in this fashion, with my mother gently waking me with another tray of food. We talked, I ate, and she was gone with another reminder of her and my father's love for me. I held no bitterness toward my father. He was only doing what he thought was right. When she left, I prepared myself for another ten hours of nothingness.
However, a little while after midday, a young servant came into my room. It had been so long since I had seen anyone save my mother that, even though I scarcely knew the young girl who was standing at my door, I rushed forward to embrace her. She was very startled, but she did not draw back.
"Miss?" she asked tentatively. "Your father wishes you to dress and meet your mother and himself and their guest. I am to help you." I was thrilled! Certainly, I would wear one of the new dresses I had made! But I was also unsettled. It had been a week since I had last seen my father, and I did not know if his feelings toward me had abated or if he simply wished to make a fine impression on our guest. Speaking of whom…
"Who is this guest that I am to meet?" I asked the girl who was currently helping me into the soft, cream-colored dress with blue trim that I had chosen to wear.
To my dismay, she shook her head slowly. "Surely, I do not know, miss. All I have heard is that he is an official from the palace." Her words did nothing to ease my conflicting emotions, and I was silent as the girl perfected my hair and drew kohl around my eyes, and then led me outside to the garden where my parents and our guest were waiting. We turned a corner, and my parents were both standing facing our guest, who had his back to me. But I spotted his curly dark hair, and my breath caught in my throat. My mother said something to him, and he turned around to face me, his eyes bright. I ran to him, forgetting my manners completely. He caught me up in his arms and spun me around once, making me laugh.
"Asenath," he chuckled, setting me down again. "It is very good to see you."
I cleared my throat, realizing suddenly that I needed to at least make an attempt towards acting my age in this situation. He was, after all, the second-in-command of all Egypt. "It is good to see you as well, Viceroy," I said with a polite bow of my head. In reply, he simply laughed at me, eyes shining, easily seeing through my mask of formality.
My mother took my father's arm with a knowing and cheerful smile on her face. "We shall leave you two to talk. I am sure you have much to discuss. You are staying for dinner, Zaphenath-Paneah?"
He nodded his head with a courteous smile. "If you will have me." My mother giggled, of all things! Then, with a knowing smile towards the two of us, she led my father away—who was, rather expectedly, avoiding my eye. We watched them walk away, and then I turned to my friend.
"What are you doing here, Yosi?"
He smiled, looking down at me, his eyes shining. "I had something of the utmost importance to discuss with your mother," he said in that soft, calm voice that I had missed so much.
"With my mother?" I asked, confused. Why had he not come to speak with my father? But he simply nodded and took my arm, leading me to a bench underneath an aging plum tree, facing the duck pond. We sat, and he looked down at his hands, for the first time showing a hint of nervousness and anxiety.
"I do not know how to do this…" he muttered softly, as if to himself. I waited silently, allowing him to gather his thoughts, and wondering what could possibly have made this man so ill at ease. After a moment's pause, he looked up at me again and took my hand in both of his. "Asenath, I have a tale to tell you, so that you will understand why I am here. It could become very lengthy, and I am very nervous; I must ask that you will not interrupt me, for, if you do, I may not be able to continue. You will want to speak, I am sure, many times; but you must promise me that you will not."
"I promise," I assured him, my mind reeling in wonder. His hands, holding mine tightly, were trembling. I loved this man's honesty. He was so strong and confident that, though he sat there telling me his deepest feelings, I would never, in a thousand lifetimes, have considered him weak. He cleared his throat, avoided my eyes, and began to relate his story.
"Ever since Pharaoh has exalted me to this position, he has been…encouraging me to find and take a wife. This was his reasoning for asking all of his officials to bring their young, eligible daughters with them to Memphis, in the hope that some young woman would catch my eye. It seems, though, that many believed that Pharaoh was intending for…Imhotep," he said this name with great bitterness, "to find another wife. Therefore, when Pharaoh introduced me to his guests, I was not greatly surprised or even bothered when most of the young women in the room looked to me with a disinterested or even hateful look. Some did not even look at me, but had their gaze locked solidly on Pharaoh's son.
"And then… And then, you caught my eye. And not only were you looking at me, but you smiled such a kind, encouraging smile, that I could not hold your gaze. And I spent the duration of the meal watching you, in hopes that I might learn something of your character." I opened my mouth to say something to this, but remembered my promise and closed it quickly. He had not caught it, though, because he still seemed to be finding it difficult to look at me.
"After meeting and speaking with you in the garden, I knew that I wished to know more about you. I intentionally attempted to intercept you in the halls, and, to my great pleasure, I found that you enjoyed my company as well. I quickly became quite fond of you, Adi; and my attachment was tested far sooner than I had expected it to be.
"Nine days after meeting you, as I was in a private discussion with Pharaoh, his wretched son came bounding in. He was in a jovial mood that day, and was telling us very loudly that he intended to make you his wife. He was boasting of your beauty as though he spoke to blind men; but, from seeing your interactions with him since I had known you, I knew that such a match would certainly be very far from your interests. Thus, I was relieved when Pharaoh spoke up. 'Do not begin the wedding arrangements just yet,' said he, 'for that decision is still mine to make.' Imhotep gave his father a look that, had it come from anyone else, would have earned him an expedient and painful death. 'Certainly, father, you will not disprove the match?' he asked, his voice venomous.
"'I have not decided,' was his answer. 'I will let you know my decision no later than tomorrow. Until then, you are dismissed.' But this was not the answer Imhotep had desired, and he grew even angrier. 'I love her!' he roared, but this was followed by silence. Slowly, his father stood, and pierced him with a look.
"'I said, you are dismissed,' he answered in a low, stern voice that Imhotep, even in his fury, understood and feared. He left with a hasty bow, and Pharaoh turned to me. 'You are my chief advisor, Zaphenath-Paneah,' he said, sitting heavily on his throne. 'Advise me.'
"I did not know what to tell him, but I knew that I certainly would need to tell him the truth. So I spent a good deal of time discoursing on my reservations to the match, how it was not in your best interest, and how his son was a man of fleeting passions and, surely, would forget all about this in a short time. Pharaoh listened to all I had to say with his eyebrows raised, and, when I had finished, he smiled slowly and humorously at me.
"'Perhaps I should have clarified,' he said, laughing. 'When I asked you to advise me, I was asking that you advise me how to inform my son of my disapproval without causing his anger to overwhelm us. For, certainly, I would never condemn our dear Asenath to such a life. The thought never once crossed my mind.' He had a good laugh at my embarrassment, and then we began to discuss how to keep you from this fate. I was not there when he informed his son of our decision, so, I must admit, I was worried that he may have retracted his choice when your friend Ebio came to tell you what Imhotep's intention was. I cannot… I cannot express my relief when she told us that he had not.
"I was so preoccupied that I forgot to invite you to the boat races, which is why I followed you to your room that night. I certainly was not prepared to encounter your father, and I knew that something must be wrong when you could not meet my gaze. I burned with anger when you told me what he had said to you, and what he had almost done." He had his face turned to the ground, but his eyes turned to me as he said, "The thought of anyone laying their hands on you, doing anything to hurt you, is more than I can bear." He paused, looking at the ground again. His hands tightened their grip on mine.
"Imhotep is lucky to be alive," he growled. It was a lower, more terrifying tone than any I had ever heard him use, and I nearly began to worry for Imhotep's life as well.
His grip loosened, and he turned to me again, a softer look in his eyes. "I am not a violent man, Adi, and I hope not to have made you think so. But I would destroy anyone who would harm my jewel." He looked away again. "That is what Adi means. 'My jewel.' Because you are more precious to me than anything else in this world. Any power or wealth I may have means nothing when compared to you."
Tears were leaking from my eyes. But I remembered my promise, and I did not interrupt him.
"It was not until you had left Memphis that I admitted this to myself. And I knew that I must do something about it. I went to Pharaoh and told him my intention." He chuckled, a small smile on his face. "Djoser laughed at me. 'I knew it!' he said. 'I knew you must be a real person!' When I asked him what he meant, he replied, 'For as long as I have known you, you have had a most honorable intention for everything you have done. But now, finally, I see that you had an ulterior motive for preventing the marriage of Asenath and Imhotep!'"
"After he had his laugh at my expense, he began to take me seriously, and he readily approved of my decision. But, shortly after this, we received the news that your father had begun to deny ever having a daughter. No one seemed to know his reasoning for this, as you are quite famous throughout Egypt, and nearly everyone knows that you are the daughter of Potipherah. I feared that it had to do with your devotion to our God. And I was terrified that this would be a hindrance to that which I desired. I ran to Pharaoh, entirely out of sorts. He was able to bring me back to my sense, and to assure me that all was not lost. As Pharaoh, he is the nonbiological father of all citizens of Egypt, and he has promised to give you away in your father's stead…" His voice trailed off, and we did not speak for many moments.
Tears were falling freely from my eyes, and I lost all ability to control myself when this good, wonderful, amazing man got up off the bench and knelt down in front of me, looking me full in the eye for the first time since he began his story.
"There is only one thing left to make my happiness complete. Say that you will marry me, and be my wife, and I will be the happiest man alive. I love you," he said, his voice full of emotion.
I could barely speak, barely think, barely do anything but throw my arms around his neck, crying and laughing and saying, "Yes! More than anything else, I love you! And I will be yours!"
And for once in my life, I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that my happiness—our joy—would last forever.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! I know this one was crazy long, with an incredible amount of chunky paragraphs. I'm sorry! I did try to break it up as much as possible. I really hope you enjoyed it anyway… Please review! I love love love reviews, and I love my reviewers even more! And, as always, I sincerely hope that you're enjoying reading this story as much I'm enjoying writing it!!
