Author's notes
Atemu decides ...
Shimon finds himself ...
Chapter 10 - Akhenamkhanen's wish
"Yes. Per'a'ah Akhenamkhanen ordered the beginning of the khaj-Nisut (Appearance of the king) and the choice of his future wife to be carried out by the end of the coronation ceremony. After all, the Nswt wishes to hold a grandson in his arms before he dies. After the coronation ceremony so that he can become the new Per'a'ah, we will have the wedding ceremony, since his honorable parent will find himself unable to get out of bed without receiving help when considering its current state, according to royal healers. It will be a wedding and coronation. "
Atemu sighs. His father had commented on this a few days ago and it was no secret that he wished to hold a grandson in his arms before being taken away by the Gods.
Iry-pat (Crown Prince) closes his eyes and is thoughtful, remembering the love his father felt for him and the sacrifice he made that day by prostrating himself as a slave, begging the Gods and ancestors to spare his son while silently and completely supplanting the divine fury that had been unleashed around them, although it was directed at his parent, with him personally witnessing how much his father loved him and that he was able to face the fury divine.
After all, that gesture, even if it had been for a few hours and for just one day, was enough for the prince to realize how much his father loved him by sacrificing himself and humbling himself just to save his son, sparing no effort to protect it, including from the Gods themselves.
When thinking about his ailing parent, being aware that it was caused by his request to the Gods and ancestors to bear the consequences of an unforgivable crime committed by him so that they could spare his beloved son from the stigma of guilt, Atemu realized that he would not measure efforts to repay the sacrifice of his parent and who would do everything in his power to make him happy for the time he had left and that was not much, according to the royal healers, with them commenting that Pharaoh fought hard to stay alive, with the prince believing that this fierce battle was so that he could ensure the continuation of his bloodline through a grandson.
When making his decision, he opens his crimson orbs and looks with determination towards the horizon because he had decided to give a grandson to his parent, not minding to marry some cousin to make her a smaller wife, aiming to make his beloved father to see his grandson, even from a distance, before it was too late.
While making his decision, the prince ignored the feeling of guilt when marrying another as he remembered his dream because he felt attached to that boy. He did not have that sense of guilt when he slept with the sex slaves of his own harem because it was just sex as opposed to marriage.
After all, when you got married, you would join your life with someone else, not limited to just being carnal and of no importance except sexual gratification as were sexual relations with sex slaves and any lover who wished to have a moment of pleasure with the prince.
Marriage was something completely different, even if he never loved his future wife who would be a minor wife without any influence because he felt that his heart belonged to the mysterious young man who inhabited his dreams and that he was going to have a ḥmt nswt wrt (Great royal wife) with influence and power, would be the mysterious boy if his feelings were reciprocated.
When thinking about it, he decided that he should choose one of his cousins who would appreciate the title of minor wife and wealth, with both of them being enough because he felt he could not love her.
Therefore, he felt he should have the decency to reveal that he would never love her while asking if wealth alone would be enough.
As for him continuing to sleep with sex slaves and lovers this was something that did not need to be said because it was public knowledge.
In fact, Pharaoh could have several wives and only one would have power and influence if he so desired while the people practiced monogamy.
After all, it was necessary to have weddings by diplomacy or agreements, making it necessary for the monarch to be polygamous and it was clear that the Pharaoh and the prince maintained their own harems in places other than the palace and that it was composed of women. In Atemu's case there were men, too.
Even the harems were made up of people who were present from other kingdoms or from local nobles with the latter wishing for some favor while there were cases of women who wanted a place in the harem because they were unable to stand on their own themselves and were aware that they would have fine clothes, jewelry, a roof over their head and food, having only to subject themselves to having sex with their master when ordered, while many of them regarded it as an honor to be part of the harem of the iry-pat (Crown Prince), since he would be the next Per'a'ah.
To prevent them from having children outside of marriage, in the case of women, there was a magical restriction in the form of a mark on the belly and that was temporary if she were a sporadic lover, only lasting up to seven days after the sexual relationship and in the case of those who did part of the Harem, remained with them until they were released or in the case of sex slaves when they were released. It was a condition imposed to have relations with the prince or Pharaoh.
When the women in their parent's harem were released, the seal of restraint was removed from them so that they could have children with other men, with the slaves receiving their freedom, in addition to all having received financial support to seek a new life.
This kind of magic seal was something that Atemu learned to do when he was young before he had his first sexual experience.
In addition, he would never force anyone to sleep with him and there were even some members of his harem who were never touched because they did not want to and he respected their wishes.
They were even released at the same time that they received a sum of gold to rebuild their lives. The same happened with some sex slaves who obtained some gold in addition after being freed.
With the gradual deterioration of his father's health, his harem had been dispersed with him giving a cash value for them to start their own lives together with freedom while Atemu maintained his own harem.
Only one of his parent's women remained in the palace because of Atemu because she had refused the money when she asked the prince to stay with him because of the past between them, becoming part of his harem. They also had sex with the prince and were proud of all being consensual because they never forced any woman or man to lie with him, no matter if he was someone free or a member of his harem or slave.
He had agreed to her request and this woman became part of the select group of the prince who held his full confidence. She was also his first partner and one who taught the pleasures of sex because she was the most experienced in Akhenamkhanen's harem.
The prince had even commented that he would think of another role for her when he took over as Per'a'ah so that he would not stay in his harem, making her smile.
Tanned had many freedoms just as his childhood friends had towards Atemu, treating him like an ordinary person in particular because in public they should treat him with due respect and humility because he was seen as a descendant of the Gods. Her name was Kessi.
When he remembers the marriage and that it was only to generate an heir so that its parent could have the joy of witnessing a grandson in his arms, Atemu swears to himself that he would love this child with all his heart, confessing that the wish for fatherhood came to mind when he imagined a child and that such a vision made him feel happy and if he were a girl he would be named after his mother who died when he was too young to remember her although his father always told him about her and that his mother made him give up his harem, forcing him to close it because he did not want to share it with anyone but their future son and because he loved her too much, gave up his harem and released them all, giving conditions to seek a new life.
Regarding their minor wives from treaties and agreements, they were sent to palaces far from the capital.
Atemu had been happy to learn that their parent had moved them away from the capital so that their mother would not have to endure their company because they were all frivolous and irritating.
Akhenamkhanen only rebuilt her harem a few years after she passed away.
"I must give my father a grandchild before it is too late. Therefore, we will perform the wedding after my coronation because I want to provide a child as soon as possible. However, I want to dedicate some attractions among the festivities. We need to show the power that the empire possesses both military and magical power and abilities to silence any plans for attack and invasion. My people deserve to live in peace. I know it is an impossible wish. But I can try to guarantee the maximum possible peace after the conflicts against the hekau khasut (Hicsos), ending with the victory of my honorable father." The Crown Prince spoke after making his decision about his father's wish.
Shimon was not surprised that the prince had accepted Akhenamkhanen's wish and consented because he knew that he would comply with his parent's wish.
"Yes, Iry-pat (Crown Prince) Atemu. I will personally take care of the preparations." The tjaty (Vizier) and Royal Counselor spoke while he bowed his head again in respect.
"Thank you, Shimon."
He bows his head again before leaving, with the prince returning his attention to his white female hawk and as he left the place, the Royal Counselor looked back, he felt sorry for him because he was still young to assume the responsibilities and the crown weight when he ascended the throne as a new Per'a'ah.
After all, although Atemu was trained since he was a child to succeed his father in the future, he was only seventeen years old while his father took the throne when he was much older than his son's current age. He also recalled the current Pharaoh's desire for a grandson due to the worsening illness and that this wish only poured a new burden on the son's shoulders that needed to secure an heir as soon as possible.
Even though he knew that his best friend, cousin and sovereign was not in his right mind to make the additional request to have a grandson in these conditions, the Grand Vizier could not help condemning him for his selfish desire because the burden of weight was enough of the crown in Atemu.
Despite vehemently condemning Akhenamkhanen's selfishness, he also understood that this was caused by the fact that his health was gradually deteriorating, making it natural for the sovereign to think about the continuity of his blood for the next generations and one of his ways to testify would be with a grandson.
Even considering all this, he still blamed his cousin at the same time that he felt sorry for Atemu because the life of a Pharaoh was different from the life of a prince.
A prince enjoyed some liberties that a Pharaoh did not have because attached to the title came many obligations and duties.
He emerges from his thoughts when he saw some of the prince's friends who understood the children of nobles, with their skin color standing out among the kemetics because the mothers had a skin tone considered exotic because of their eastern ancestry. In this case, he recognized the youths as Jounouchi, Honda and Ryo, who respectfully greet the tjaty (Vizier) and Royal Counselor before going to his childhood friend, Atemu, with him knowing that Atemu's fourth friend was missing. His name was Mariki and Shimon believed that he would be with them later.
With a last breath, he leaves completely because he needed to organize the introductions of all the cousins to the prince, aiming that he chose one of them to marry, since to guarantee the purity of blood it was customary to marry a cousin.
After the coronation of Atemu as Pharaoh, the wedding will take place and then there will be a large event in the form of a celebration involving nobles from various provinces at the same time as the visit of other princes from neighboring kingdoms to Kemet (Egypt).
Atemu decided to use the end of the event to demonstrate to the visitors all the grandeur and power of that empire in the form of a silent message to the kingdoms bordering the empire in order to alert them of the drastic consequences and how it was a minimally suicidal act to try something against the Egyptian empire.
Therefore, in order to convey this silent message, Atemu would schedule public demonstrations of power and army dominance along with the magical arts they mastered and as he thought about it, Shimon smirked when he imagined the attractions for that special day.
After entering the interior of the palace, he heads to a corridor containing some vases, where he meets a young woman who was preparing to hide in one of them and smiles to himself, slowly approaching her and when she was entering the object, he asks next to her in a confirmation tone "Escaping classes again, Mana?"