Dinner went very much as expected. Radames and Amneris entered the room
well dressed and took their place beside Amonasro. Radames spent much of
the meal listening to the rapturous musings of Amneris. She and the king
had hit it off right away and the two of them chatted happily about trivial
matters such as the weather and- Radames shuddered slightly at it- fashion.
Radames found himself with little to say. He was acknowledged only when
Kadoteas, who sat on the opposite side of his father asked, "Something
wrong with your lamb?"
Radames looked down at his plate, which he'd barely touched and replied quickly, "No, its fine," then returned his attention to the conversation at hand. He found it surprising that Kadoteas would notice such a thing when his focus was almost always on Amneris. But then, his was not the only. In the short span of an hour, Amneris had charmed her way into the attention of every person in the room and most eyes and ears were aimed in her direction.
As they walked out that night, Radames reached over and squeezed his wife's hand, which was resting comfortably in the bend of his elbow. To his surprise, she looked up and smiled warmly. She'd been in something of a mood on the way there, so he was relived for the change.
"I was thinking," he told her as they ascended the stairs, "as I watched you tonight, that I've married a brilliant woman."
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and seemed near to laughing, "Funny."
"I'm serious," he assured her.
"Hmm...you just noticed?"
He stopped. She was up one step before she faced him; the higher level helped her meet him eye to eye.
"I've never seen you do that," he explained, "Tonight you were witty and well spoken. Did you see how many people were watching you? Why haven't I ever seen that side of you?"
Amneris' brightness had fallen a bit. She shrugged and replied, "How witty and well spoken would you be if the most important thing you were asked is 'Would you like the green dress or the chartreuse?' I was all those things tonight because I had to be. I would be a lot more if given the proper chance."
With that, she turned and climbed the stairs to their floor.
She didn't take too much stock in his kindness. Like their fighting, their good moments were short lived and she was certain that by the following morning, they would return to the pleasant indifference that had held them for so long.
About this, she was right, but she couldn't have predicted what would happen to them in the days to come. For nearly a week, Amneris saw very little of her husband. He spent his days in the chamber of Amonasro, showing only for the occasional meal, which he would never stay through. He spoke very little to her and only stopped for conversation long enough to end an argument. The most pressing issue she had with him was his health. As the days passed in Nubia, Radames' well-being made a sudden turn for the worst. He was pale and so thin that his clothes no longer fit him right. His hands shook, he hardly ate and an evident fever was coming upon him. Amneris had arrived in their bedchamber twice in the past three days to find him in the washroom, retching out what little he had forced himself to consume. Sadly, all of her pleas to him to stay in bed had either been ignored, or resulted in a fight.
Even without worry over Radames, her days were not happy ones. On her second day, she had been introduced to an elegantly aged woman named Lorna. Lorna sat in her chamber everyday with two other women whom she had known for most of her life. Amneris had been asked to join them and had politely accepted. Had she known that the three of them did nothing but talk ALL DAY LONG, she would not have set foot in the room. The three of them gossiped about the king, about the prince, about the servants, about the cooks, about the washing women, about the Egyptians [without the slightest bit of self-censoring for the presence of the Egyptian queen ("Can you believe what those savage Egyptians are trying to do to our lands? They certainly don't look like barbarians, there's no need to act as them.")] and when one left the room, they gossiped about each other. Had this been a mere half year before, she might have found herself thrilled to talk to them. Her present state, however, caused their constant babble to stale.
A morning arrived when the situation with Radames was on its way to explosion. She had once more beseeched him to relax for a day and he had turned his gaunt face to her and snapped, "I will take a day of rest, when you accept a night of sleep."
Her brush had been in hand and had he not left in such a rush, she would have thrown it at him. Instead, she finished furiously brushing her hair, ate her breakfast, drank her wine and left for another day of mind-numbing gossip.
Gossip, however, would not be her destiny for that day. Fate smiled while on the way to Lorna's chamber, as she passed a room with an open door.
"Hey," said a voice, once she had passed by. She turned and found herself face to face with Kadoteas.
"This corridor is closed to you," he said stepping from the room and shutting the door behind him.
"To me?" she asked, somewhat bewildered.
He shrugged, "I don't see anyone else."
Amneris cocked her head to one side. She'd promised to respect restricted areas, but she felt the strange compulsion to give the young man a hard time.
"I go this way everyday," she told him, "Why should today be any different?"
He folded his arms and stepped directly in her path, "It's different because I say it is and you, being a guest in my father's house, means that you're compelled to obey. Now, go away."
She didn't move, but curled the side of her lip into a smile. A moment, of watching her seem to take the rigidity from his body. He relaxed and smiled back at her.
"Where are you heading?" he asked.
She shrugged, "Another day with Lorna."
"Why would you go there?" The look on his face as he asked the question was not just mere curiosity. It bordered on concern. "I don't know anyone in their right mind who would willingly spend time with that woman. Is that where you've been these past days?"
"Apparently, it's the best they can do to keep me occupied."
"Pathetic," he lamented, shaking his head.
"Really," she said, getting back on topic, "Why can't I go in there?"
Kadoteas placed a hand on her shoulder and began to lead her the other way.
"You can't go in there because my father in an unreasonable fool."
"Well," she said as they walked out of the corridor, "that clears it up then, doesn't it?"
"Come, I'll take you another way, but I recommend that you find better things to occupy your time with."
"Such as?"
He thought for a moment, "Been to the marketplace yet?"
"I believe I recall spending an entire day with you there."
He laughed into his words, "You saw the palace bazaar. Boring compared to the local marketplace. It's nearly midday. The fights should be starting soon."
When Kadoteas said "the fights" Amneris received a flashback from her childhood. Her father and a number of his advisors and friends would hold matches. Not against each other of course. They would set soldiers, slaves and the occasional peasant upon one another, taking bets on who would come out victorious, or, depending on the circumstances, alive.
These were not the sort of duels Kadoteas meant. He joined her on her trip through the marketplace, showing her the sights and sounds and helping her to avoid those who would do her physical or financial harm. It was good for her that he was there, for as stood in between two stands, one of jade jewelry and other of rose colored gowns, the vendors of each one, who'd spent a good deal of time trying to coax her to buy, suddenly turned upon one another, throwing first insults and then punches. Kadoteas pulled Amneris out of their path, just as the wrestling match began. This was the first of three similar scenes that they would fall upon that day.
That night, they laughed about it at dinner, under the somewhat disdainful eye of Amonasro. That night, there was an odd sort of buzz about the room. Amneris felt eyes on her unlike any from before. She couldn't explain exactly what it was, but after an hour of sitting in the dining hall, it was beginning to annoy her. Kadoteas, however, seemed unaffected, by the curious stares at them from around the room.
When Amneris returned to her room, she found her husband already in bed. As this had become normal, she thought nothing of it. A bath was prepared and, as her routine went, she slipped in for a good long soak before retiring. As she returned to the bed, in the midst of wrapping a robe about her, she saw that Radames' eyes were open. Her breath caught in her throat as she waited for him to make the next move. He didn't. He was still for so long, she was afraid he was dead, until after an age, he finally blinked. The moment this reassurance came, Amneris went straight for bed. For the first time in months, they slept apart from one another.
Radames looked down at his plate, which he'd barely touched and replied quickly, "No, its fine," then returned his attention to the conversation at hand. He found it surprising that Kadoteas would notice such a thing when his focus was almost always on Amneris. But then, his was not the only. In the short span of an hour, Amneris had charmed her way into the attention of every person in the room and most eyes and ears were aimed in her direction.
As they walked out that night, Radames reached over and squeezed his wife's hand, which was resting comfortably in the bend of his elbow. To his surprise, she looked up and smiled warmly. She'd been in something of a mood on the way there, so he was relived for the change.
"I was thinking," he told her as they ascended the stairs, "as I watched you tonight, that I've married a brilliant woman."
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and seemed near to laughing, "Funny."
"I'm serious," he assured her.
"Hmm...you just noticed?"
He stopped. She was up one step before she faced him; the higher level helped her meet him eye to eye.
"I've never seen you do that," he explained, "Tonight you were witty and well spoken. Did you see how many people were watching you? Why haven't I ever seen that side of you?"
Amneris' brightness had fallen a bit. She shrugged and replied, "How witty and well spoken would you be if the most important thing you were asked is 'Would you like the green dress or the chartreuse?' I was all those things tonight because I had to be. I would be a lot more if given the proper chance."
With that, she turned and climbed the stairs to their floor.
She didn't take too much stock in his kindness. Like their fighting, their good moments were short lived and she was certain that by the following morning, they would return to the pleasant indifference that had held them for so long.
About this, she was right, but she couldn't have predicted what would happen to them in the days to come. For nearly a week, Amneris saw very little of her husband. He spent his days in the chamber of Amonasro, showing only for the occasional meal, which he would never stay through. He spoke very little to her and only stopped for conversation long enough to end an argument. The most pressing issue she had with him was his health. As the days passed in Nubia, Radames' well-being made a sudden turn for the worst. He was pale and so thin that his clothes no longer fit him right. His hands shook, he hardly ate and an evident fever was coming upon him. Amneris had arrived in their bedchamber twice in the past three days to find him in the washroom, retching out what little he had forced himself to consume. Sadly, all of her pleas to him to stay in bed had either been ignored, or resulted in a fight.
Even without worry over Radames, her days were not happy ones. On her second day, she had been introduced to an elegantly aged woman named Lorna. Lorna sat in her chamber everyday with two other women whom she had known for most of her life. Amneris had been asked to join them and had politely accepted. Had she known that the three of them did nothing but talk ALL DAY LONG, she would not have set foot in the room. The three of them gossiped about the king, about the prince, about the servants, about the cooks, about the washing women, about the Egyptians [without the slightest bit of self-censoring for the presence of the Egyptian queen ("Can you believe what those savage Egyptians are trying to do to our lands? They certainly don't look like barbarians, there's no need to act as them.")] and when one left the room, they gossiped about each other. Had this been a mere half year before, she might have found herself thrilled to talk to them. Her present state, however, caused their constant babble to stale.
A morning arrived when the situation with Radames was on its way to explosion. She had once more beseeched him to relax for a day and he had turned his gaunt face to her and snapped, "I will take a day of rest, when you accept a night of sleep."
Her brush had been in hand and had he not left in such a rush, she would have thrown it at him. Instead, she finished furiously brushing her hair, ate her breakfast, drank her wine and left for another day of mind-numbing gossip.
Gossip, however, would not be her destiny for that day. Fate smiled while on the way to Lorna's chamber, as she passed a room with an open door.
"Hey," said a voice, once she had passed by. She turned and found herself face to face with Kadoteas.
"This corridor is closed to you," he said stepping from the room and shutting the door behind him.
"To me?" she asked, somewhat bewildered.
He shrugged, "I don't see anyone else."
Amneris cocked her head to one side. She'd promised to respect restricted areas, but she felt the strange compulsion to give the young man a hard time.
"I go this way everyday," she told him, "Why should today be any different?"
He folded his arms and stepped directly in her path, "It's different because I say it is and you, being a guest in my father's house, means that you're compelled to obey. Now, go away."
She didn't move, but curled the side of her lip into a smile. A moment, of watching her seem to take the rigidity from his body. He relaxed and smiled back at her.
"Where are you heading?" he asked.
She shrugged, "Another day with Lorna."
"Why would you go there?" The look on his face as he asked the question was not just mere curiosity. It bordered on concern. "I don't know anyone in their right mind who would willingly spend time with that woman. Is that where you've been these past days?"
"Apparently, it's the best they can do to keep me occupied."
"Pathetic," he lamented, shaking his head.
"Really," she said, getting back on topic, "Why can't I go in there?"
Kadoteas placed a hand on her shoulder and began to lead her the other way.
"You can't go in there because my father in an unreasonable fool."
"Well," she said as they walked out of the corridor, "that clears it up then, doesn't it?"
"Come, I'll take you another way, but I recommend that you find better things to occupy your time with."
"Such as?"
He thought for a moment, "Been to the marketplace yet?"
"I believe I recall spending an entire day with you there."
He laughed into his words, "You saw the palace bazaar. Boring compared to the local marketplace. It's nearly midday. The fights should be starting soon."
When Kadoteas said "the fights" Amneris received a flashback from her childhood. Her father and a number of his advisors and friends would hold matches. Not against each other of course. They would set soldiers, slaves and the occasional peasant upon one another, taking bets on who would come out victorious, or, depending on the circumstances, alive.
These were not the sort of duels Kadoteas meant. He joined her on her trip through the marketplace, showing her the sights and sounds and helping her to avoid those who would do her physical or financial harm. It was good for her that he was there, for as stood in between two stands, one of jade jewelry and other of rose colored gowns, the vendors of each one, who'd spent a good deal of time trying to coax her to buy, suddenly turned upon one another, throwing first insults and then punches. Kadoteas pulled Amneris out of their path, just as the wrestling match began. This was the first of three similar scenes that they would fall upon that day.
That night, they laughed about it at dinner, under the somewhat disdainful eye of Amonasro. That night, there was an odd sort of buzz about the room. Amneris felt eyes on her unlike any from before. She couldn't explain exactly what it was, but after an hour of sitting in the dining hall, it was beginning to annoy her. Kadoteas, however, seemed unaffected, by the curious stares at them from around the room.
When Amneris returned to her room, she found her husband already in bed. As this had become normal, she thought nothing of it. A bath was prepared and, as her routine went, she slipped in for a good long soak before retiring. As she returned to the bed, in the midst of wrapping a robe about her, she saw that Radames' eyes were open. Her breath caught in her throat as she waited for him to make the next move. He didn't. He was still for so long, she was afraid he was dead, until after an age, he finally blinked. The moment this reassurance came, Amneris went straight for bed. For the first time in months, they slept apart from one another.