11. Visions Part 1
Solomon was looking through boxes of items that had been found in the child's tomb. There were many items that was meant to help her in her next life. Items were known Egyptian items, but some items were unknown. Solomon theorised that they were some form of toy considering the age of the child, but he was uncertain.
Starting another box, Solomon opened the box to find a simple rose gold box inside. Frowning, Solomon pulled the box out of the box and set it on the table. Opening the box, Solomon found a light pink blanket inside with gold images of lions and dragons sewn into it. The material was extremely soft under Solomon's fingers too.
"Found anything interesting?" Arthur asked as he went through his own box.
"A box inside a box and a blanket inside the inner box," Solomon responded, pulling the blanket from the box to see if there was anything inside. The blanket was neatly folded and tucked behind it so the blanket wouldn't unravel.
"What is so important about the blanket?" Arthur muttered as Solomon set the blanket down on the table beside the rose gold box. "Is there anything else in the box?"
"Not inside the box," Solomon answered, gently opening the blanket. He was uncertain how much the material may have degraded over the years and didn't want to damage something that was clearly very carefully wrapped by someone. Possibly the child's mother.
Inside the neatly folded blanket, Solomon found a small heart shaped ruby pendant with cracks throughout the gem. "Did you find something?" Arthur asked when Solomon gently touched the gem. "Solomon?" He asked again when he got no response. He found Solomon staring blankly at the gem, eyes glazed over while his hand clutched the ruby gem tightly.
Vision- 1st Piece
Solomon found himself looking at an image of his former self, Shimon, who was in a meeting with Atemu when there was a sharp knock at the door. "Unless it's urgent, return later!" Shimon called sharply. Their meeting was in regard to the fact that Atemu's marriage wasn't doing too well after Teana discovered that he had slept with her brother while on their return trip from the underworld.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your meeting, but an urgent messenger has been sent for Merita," the guard at the door said, a muffled apology heard to the messenger following.
"What the hell can it be about?" Atemu asked with a frown, seeing Shimon shrug in response. "Fine, let them in," Atemu sighed, rubbing his head. What else could go wrong?
Shimon nodded and opened the door, standing aside so the messenger could enter the room. "What is this about?" Shimon asked the nervous looking messenger.
"K-King Yami has a message," the messenger started, gulping nervously.
"Obviously. What is the message?" Atemu responded, raising an eyebrow. 'Why the hell is this guy so nervous?'
"H-He wanted me to tell you that he's pregnant," the messenger finally managed to spit out, cheeks turning red. He really wished he wasn't here. The news sounded like something that could get them in a LOT of trouble. Especially since Atemu is married to Yami's older sister!
"WHAT?!" both Shimon and Atemu exclaimed together, the colour draining from Atemu's face.
"He's pregnant," the messenger squeaked.
"Oh Ra, Atemu. Didn't you pull out?" Shimon groaned, slapping his face.
"Pull out?" Atemu asked with a confused frown.
"To stop someone from getting pregnant, you pull out before you cum," Shimon deadpanned. 'No wonder Teana keeps getting pregnant. Even if she keeps losing the child.'
"Oh… How the hell would I know that?" Atemu responded with a frown.
Shimon groaned. "What are you going to do? Teana is going to kill you."
"We won't tell her yet," Atemu responded, seeing everyone raise an eyebrow at him. "We don't know how far along the pregnancy Yami will get. We all know Teana's trouble. It's possible that Yami will have the same issues. Especially since he's a year younger than her."
"How will you know how the pregnancy is going?" Shimon asked.
"You're going back with the messenger," Atemu answered.
"What?" the messenger squeaked.
"Shimon will stay in the palace with Yami until the pregnancy is over. He will return once the child is either born, or the pregnancy ends," Atemu explained. "This isn't negotiable. Shimon, send regular updates and try to keep the relationship civil. The last thing we need is Teana's family ostracizing her because of this."
"Are you sure? I'll be gone for a long time. Can you handle the kingdom without me?" Shimon asked, knowing that Atemu's father was very sick and was needing his son's help more and more to rule the kingdom.
"I'll be fine," Atemu answered. "Just don't do anything that'll mess things up."
Shimon sighed. "Very well. When do we leave?"
"As soon as possible," Atemu asked. "How far along is he?"
"The healer estimates about ten weeks," the messenger answered.
Shimon frowned and watched Atemu nod. "How do you even know that you're the father?" Shimon asked the Prince.
Atemu blushed darkly. "He hadn't done it before."
"Oh…" Shimon muttered. "Let me get my stuff and then we can leave.
The messenger nodded and followed the man out of the room, leaving Atemu behind to slump in his chair with a pout. 'I really fucked up this time. Teana will kill me if the child survives. I'm not wishing the child would die, but I don't know what'll happen if he survives. Do I just have Yami deny that I'm the child's father? What if this is my only chance to have a child?' Atemu sighed. His thoughts weren't helping him deal with the mess he made. They were just compounding how screwed he actually was.
Shimon sighed as he entered his room and started to pack a sack full of clothes and other items he may require during his stay in Merita. He didn't know how long he would be there for, so he didn't know how much to take. For all he knew, by the time he arrived, he may have to turn around and come straight back because the pregnancy was over.
"I don't know what the King will think of this," the messenger admitted.
"Me either, but I can't argue with the Prince. Especially since he's acting Pharaoh at the moment. I don't know how his father would respond to this news. The news of him cheating on Teana was enough to bring on this bout of illness," Shimon responded, turning to the messenger once his bag was ready. "Let's get this over with. Waiting around isn't going to make our welcoming party in Merita any sweeter."
The messenger nodded and followed Shimon back out towards the main entrance where the carriage was waiting on his return. The horses had been changed by the time they got there though since the last pair were exhausted from the journey. The two sets of horses would be exchanged once again another day.
End 1st Vision / Start 2nd Piece
Hours later, the carriage came to a halt at the entrance to the palace in Smarri. Shimon and the messenger got out of the carriage and were greeted by Yami. "What's going on, Torlin?" Yami asked with a confused frown as he looked at Shimon.
"The Prince ordered that he come with me to watch the progress of the pregnancy. He's not allowed to return home until after the pregnancy is over," the messenger answered with a slight bow to the king.
"Oh… Go and prepare my old room for him. He can stay in the Royal Wing with us. That way he is closer to the action and doesn't have to worry about missing anything he has to report back to Atemu," Yami ordered, raising an eyebrow and wrap his arms around his slightly extended stomach. He already had a bump forming from the pregnancy and had known for the past five weeks.
Shimon waited for the messenger to leave before he spoke. "How long have you known? I doubt it took this long to realise that you're pregnant considering you're already showing."
"I've known for five weeks… But I know the risk of losing the child is higher in the first twelve or so weeks. I didn't want to cause unnecessary stress if the child was lost after Atemu and Teana found out. That's why I waited," Yami responded with a faint blush. "Come, I'm sure you're hungry."
"Why are you so calm about the idea of me being here for an undetermined amount of time?" Shimon asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I was half hoping someone would come. Hopefully Teana, but I guess that isn't likely to happen," Yami responded. "Besides, I know you're not going to intentionally cause trouble. I got that impression from when I met you at Teana's wedding and the part after that when Atemu and I finally returned from the underworld."
Shimon smiled slightly. "I didn't know I gave off that impression. Why did you want someone to come here though?"
"To be honest, I'm terrified about what'll happen. I'm thirteen. How do I care for a child and rule a kingdom when I don't even have a partner? Hell, the only friends I have here are my subordinates. I do know that no one here will betray me, but I don't know who can support me in this. Especially during the birth part," Yami responded. "Who's going to be with me when I give birth? I know the healer will be there. But who else? Do I have to give birth alone?"
"You don't have to think about that stuff now. You still have plenty of time. Perhaps you could come with me back to Egypt when it gets closer to you delivering the child," Shimon suggested.
"I can't do that. I have to rule the kingdom here. Who knows how long it'll take to deliver the child? No, I'm staying here," Yami responded as he opened the door for the advisor.
"Perhaps you can send for Teana when it's getting closer to your birth," Shimon suggested as he entered the room. "Don't you have servants to open your doors?"
"She has her own duties in Egypt. I'm not going to call her away for my own selfish needs. If she wishes to attend the birth, she knows where I am," Yami replied as the two sat down at the dining table, smiling appreciatively at a waitress who gave them each a plate of stew. "And no, I don't have servants or guards do that task unless there's a major event going on. It seems unnecessary to me. I'm fully capable of opening my own door. The only exception to this rule is if there is someone present who physically cannot open the door on their own."
"Does your people know about the pregnancy?" Shimon asked as he started to eat his soup. He was very hungry after their long journey.
"Yes. They were the ones who pushed me to get the test and news spreads fast in such a small kingdom. The only thing they don't know is who the father is," Yami answered. "Although it is quite amusing to see the speculation surrounding the father of the child. Some even go as far as saying a demon fathered my child when I was in the underworld."
Shimon chuckled slightly at that. "A demon? Wouldn't that be interesting?"
Yami nodded, smile faltering ever so slightly.
Shimon frowned. "What? It's not possible, is it?"
Yami shrugged. "I don't know. The problem with the underworld is that you can't tell if it really happened or was just an illusion projected into one's mind."
"Oh… You don't think it's possible though, do you?" Shimon asked.
"I really hope not. There was no sign of it on my body when we left. But I already been killed in there a few times and there's no sign of that either," Yami responded.
"It's possible that whatever happens there stays there," Shimon mused. "Anyways, let's not think of that," Shimon said with a forced smile, seeing Yami smile in return as he nodded his head in agreement.
End 2nd Vision