Chapter 6: Worth it
Ramses' heart was beating fastly as his feet brought him to the small palace garden. The plants were honestly rather decent. Ra made the sun shine right in Ramses' eyes as he walked outside, in search for the young princess. He eventually found her, sitting on a bench, petting a black cat.
Ramses gulped when moving closer to her. Oh Ra, had he ever been this nervous?
"H-hello."
She turned around to him.
Ramses stood in the grass, smiling like an idiot.
The woman's voice was soft and clear. "Oh, hello."
"Err… Can I sit with you?"
She smiled warmly. "Sure."
Ramses came closer and the cat quickly jumped off of the bench, running inside.
He sat down. "M-my name is Ramses. And yours?"
"My name is Dedyet."
Ramses was melting like butter in the sun. "That's a beautiful name," he said as if his breath was taken.
Dedyet chuckled. "Thank you. You are from the South, right?"
"Err, yes, yes! My father is ruling the kingdom in Upper Egypt. I will take his place as soon as the gods will want me to."
"That sounds wonderful."
"Yes…" An awkward silence filled the garden. "And… You are the princess here?" Ugh. That was possibly the dumbest thing he could have asked now… She was quite obviously the princess here!
"Yes, but I am not ruling. My brother is."
"Errr-"
"Yes?"
"I have heard that, err-, you are ruling with him together? It- it's just a rumor!"
Dedyet seemed surprised, yet concerned. "Where did you hear that?"
"Well… People say that in the North."
She faced the ground. "Oh. I see…"
"No! Err… I… Is it true?"
She nodded slowly. "Well, kind of." Dedyet looked up to him. "This side of Egypt was once in ruins. It was…because of my brother and his ideas about ruling a kingdom. So I took things in my own hands and began ruling with him together. He hated it, but I just couldn't see it anymore, how the people were suffering from the bad economy… My brother knows that he is a bad ruler. He just can't admit it." She faced the ground.
Ramses quickly complimented her. "This is beautiful of you to say. You deserve my fullest respect!"
She was smiling now, not just with her lips but also with her eyes. Those beautiful, beautiful eyes…
The crown prince was more than surprised that she was staring at him as well. "Your eyes… They are so beautiful," Dedyet mumbled, fascinated.
They both blushed and smiled at each other. Ramses reached out for Dedyet's hand. It was exactly this moment when he knew that the journey had been worth it.