In this ch you will get A LOT of Loretta's backstory & maybe a little surprise
Walking through Rome Loretta & Celina wondered along the cities streets, looking around at all the tall & uniquely styled buildings, things were a lot different in Rome than Egypt, it wasn't just the way people were dressed but also their modes of transport were different too.
The whole city amazed Loretta, she couldn't believe this was going to be her new temporary home. "Hey Cel, can you see what I can see?" said Loretta nudging her sister with her elbow
"Woah, no way, that cant be our Palace, its bigger than yours in Egypt" Celina exclaimed as she followed Loretta's line of sight.
"Celina! Ssh, the people here can't know that we are from Egypt, I know I am slightly more tan than you but you need to keep it down, at least until we have spoken to whoever it is that is in the Palace" Loretta said with a nod
"Sorry Loretta, I was just so surprised at the size of this place," Celina said looking sheepish "Its ok, I'm amazed by this place & our Palace but maybe you shouldn't call me "Loretta" anymore," Loretta said with a frown
"Oh? Why, why cant I use your name anymore Sis?" Celina questioned raising an eyebrow, looking at her sister Loretta looked up to the sky as slowly stopped walking "When I received that letter from Rosetta the other day, she called me a funny name, maybe that name is my real name" Loretta shrugged
"Well...Spill it, whats your real name" Celina said standing with her hands on her hips "I think mum called me "Losita" it sounds strange to say but I guess that is the real name I was given at birth" Losita said smiling
"Wow, that is quiet the change to what we have known you as for the last 20 years, but what about me? Did mum- I mean Rosetta say anything about me?" Celina said tilting her head to the side
"Sorry Cel, Im afraid not" Loretta said softly shaking her head "she did say that a relative of ours may know more about our past" Loretta smiled
Looking down & away from her sister Celina sighed "Oh ok, well we are at the Palace now so hopefully we get some answers" Celina said as she looked up the high sided walls & smiled "Its ok Cel, come on lets go in, we have a meeting to attend" Loretta smiled as they began to walk through the Palace entrance way
Walking down the hallway the two girls gasped in awe at the massive white marble pillars that were formed into arches, gazing further at the walls the two girls stopped at a painting of what looked to be a King & Queen with their daughter held securely in the Queen's arms.
"L-Loretta, a-am I seeing things or is this little girl in this portrait you?" Celina stuttered "I dont know Celina but if it is, thoes two people must be our parents" Loretta said with a nod as she gazed upon the women she believed to be her real mother
As the two girls stood looking at the painting Loretta felt a strong hand on her shoulder, turning to look at the owner of the hand Loretta smiled when she noticed the resemblance to the man in the painting
"Good afternoon your majesty, im glad you could finally make it" said the man with a bow "you must be our Uncle, please just call me Lor-Losita" Loretta said with a blush as she nearly said her other name
"I know who you are, Queen Loretta, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Octavian & I am indeed your uncle" he chuckled "its so lovely to finally meet you, I suppose you know that this is my youngest sister Celina" Loretta said pointing to her sister
"Good Afternoon your highness..." he said as he bowed to Celina "I never got the chance to meet you properly, but when I did see you when you were very young so you wouldn't have known who I was anyway" he Chuckled
"Oh thank you, Uncle Octavian..." Celina said with a blush "I'm not very used to being bowed to but would you mind telling us what happened to our parents, our foster Mother Rosetta only told us that they were murdered but why?"
"I dont actually know why it happened but a month or so after you were born Celina, the Kingdom was invaded by an army of men who actually had a grudge against your GrandFather Augustus.
Trying to be the best Father & King that he could, your Father Julius tried to protect you two girls & your Mother from being injured or even killed, sacrificing his own life by drawing the enemy away from where you were hidden" Octavian said with a sad sigh
"But what about our Mother, if only Father was killed by the enemy, then why isn't our Mother with us today?" Loretta asked as she comforted her crying sister
"Your Mother was eventually & unfortunately caught & killed by the enemy soldiers, she had led them away from the Palace so my sister Nefetari could get you, two girls, out safely, being that Nefe' is Egyptian she took you two over to Egypt to her sister, who had just recently lost a twin during birth" Octavian said as Loretta gasped
"Loretta? Whats wrong" Celina said looking up at her sister "Nothing is wrong Celina but I have just figured out who the sister was that lost the twins, it was our Mother, Rosetta. One day I overheard her talking to Rafael & she was crying, I heard her say something about how she wished that Rafael's twin brother was still alive & what beautiful babies they were" Loretta said swallowing the lump that was in her throat
"That is indeed right, Nefetari & Rosetta are my sisters & your Father was my Brother, as to why your Father & I have Roman names & my sisters have Egyptian names, your GrandFather was Roman but your GrandMother was Egyptian. Your Mother, on the other hand, was Greek, your Mother & Father met on the night of his 18th Birthday" Octavian said smirking at Loretta who gasped again
"That is exactly how Atem & I met, I-I can't believe it, Uncle Octavian? Whereabouts in Egypt did our GrandMother live?" Loretta asked still getting over the shock of the information she had just been given
"I believe she lived in what you now call Cairo but was know as Kehmet back then, why do you ask that Loretta" Octavian said raising an eyebrow. Now Loretta was even more stunned, her Grandmother was Egyptian, out of all the races, she was Egyptian!
Thinking for a moment while nodding her head & folding her arms across her chest, Loretta to raised an eyebrow & tilted her head to the side "I-I'm actually afraid to ask this, Uncle but, what was our GrandMothers maiden name before she married GrandFather?" Loretta asked as she began chewing on a fingernail
"Tutankhamun" Octavian announced proudly "You cant be serious, Uncle Octavian, tell me that you are joking" Loretta gapped still not believing her ears as her uncle slowly shook his head "I dont joke Loretta, what I tell you is the truth but what is with all the questions, what seems to be the problem" Octavian said
"My Husband Atem, is a Tutankhamun, his Father is Aknamkanon, so i-is my GrandMother my Father-in-laws sister?" Loretta asked as she waits for Octavian's answer "No, your GrandMother is Atem's GreatAuntie, so she is your Husbands, GrandFathers Sister...so you & Atem are third or fourth cousins" Octavian nods
"Wow, i wonder if Atem knows all of this, thank you so much Uncle Octavian" Loretta bowed "Why are you thanking me?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
"Because you have taught us more about our family history in the past half an hour than what we have known in 20 or should I say 18 years" Loretta smiled
"It is so good to finally get to know you two young ladies after such a long time, but now we need to get down to business, a meeting has been arranged for dawn tomorrow so that my entire staff get to know you, your Auntie Nefe should be here within the next couple of hours so you two can be fitted for your traditional Roman dresses & teach you more about Roman culture.
In the meantime Loretta would you be willing to take my place on the throne, I'm not actually King, even though my servants address me as such, I never took the title after my brother got killed, Im only here looking after his Palace" Octavian said as they started to walk down to the throne room
"I want to Uncle, but can I be the Queen of Egypt & the Empress of Rome at the same time? Ive been away from my family for almost three days & I miss them terribly, the way I left Atem crying on his knees in the sand breaks my heart & I just want to get back to him, as soon as i possibly can" Loretta said as her eyes welled up with tears
"I dont believe so but its only going to be temporary while you teach Celina, its going to take up to 90 days but you only have to rule as Queen for a week & then at the end of the week publicly announce that you are stepping down" Octavian says as he looks over his shoulder at Loretta
"Um ok, that should be alright...I think" Loretta said starting to sound abit nervous "Loretta? Whats wrong" Celina asked putting her hand on her sister's shoulder "Well, the only person that knows this is Atem but... I'm actually nearly 5 months pregnant" Loretta said sheepishly as Octavian & Celina looked at her with their mouths wide open
"Congratulations Loretta, any idea what your baby is going to be?" Octavian asked lightly patting her back "I dont know, Atem's priestess Isis does my scans but I'm not going to be there for her to do it, she uses the power of her Millenium Item to check & you dont have anything like that here" Loretta sighed sadly
"No but we do have a medical team that can check you over if you want it?" Octavian asked as they entered the throne room "I think I will be ok plus I know Celina is a fast learner, we could be out of here within 30days" Loretta said trying to be as positive as possible as she gazed at the huge throne room.
"Welcome to the throne room your Majesties, this is where we hold all court sessions & or celebrations" Octavian said with a smile "Wow its so beautiful" the two girls said at the same time "Im just wondering Uncle, is there any way I can change my name from what it is now to my birth name, just while I'm here" Loretta asked
"Oh yes, we can do that at the meeting tomorrow morning" Octavian smiled as he continued to show the two girls around.
TBC...