Chapter 10: Father's advice
Ramses sighed rather angrily to himself when he kicked a stone inside the little pool that was in front of him. When he looked up, he saw his father approaching him.
"My son." The pharaoh sat down next to him. "How is it going?"
Ramses didn't answer him. He was instead looking at the pool in anger.
"Does she like you already? If you are really sure that she does, you should ask her to be your wife tomorrow, right before we leave. We cannot stay any longer."
"Father!"
"What is it?"
"We just had a fight…"
"A fight?!"
"I was asking her about her parents once again and she got angry and left. What do you think where they are?"
"Why would I care about where her parents are?!"
"Doesn't it make you curious?"
"No."
"We came to this palace. It is big, build for royalty. But the only people in here are an angry pharaoh, his younger sister and a handful servants! That's anything but normal!"
"It is nice to see how ruined this kingdom is, way worse than I thought it would be. Setpenkhamun is not popular amongst his underlings. It will be an easy task for us to take it over."
"Setpenkhamun already started ruling when he was only sixteen, Father. His parents are gone!"
"Who cares? You will be the man to unite this country! How does it feel?"
"I don't feel anything at all."
"What's the matter, Boy?"
"It's because of Dedyet. I really like her…"
"Does she like you too?"
"I don't know."
"You are an idiot, really!"
"Father, what- what are you implying?"
"You are the future pharaoh of Upper Egypt. My people already adore you! You are young, intelligent and fertile. She sits here with her brother in a kingdom he has ruined. This woman has nothing but a title. What a loser would you be if she turned you down? You! The son of Ra!"
"I don't know…"
"You don't know anything, do you?"
Ramses was sad and disappointed. "Are you angry with me, Father?"
"No. But it would be a lost chance if you wouldn't manage to make her fall for you. The journey we've made was exhausting and risky. I do not want to repeat it ever in my life. But we cannot forget, in only a few months and I will attend a journey that is the most dangerous one in this universe. The journey through the underworld."
Ramses sighed, now feeling even sadder than before. "There is no day passing in which you aren't talking about your death, Father."
"The gods have warned me! I would be an idiot if I didn't prepare already!"
Ramses faced the ground, about to sigh again.
"Listen, my son. This kingdom here is ruined. The ground isn't fertile. The people will not survive if Setpenkhamun keeps ruling. Take the princess as your wife and you will have a life full of praise, money and an endless amount of sons and daughters. It is your ultimate goal. And you're about to reach it just by doing what I've told you."
"I'm just worried about Dedyet… I don't want to hurt her…"
"Go after that lady and comfort her. Say you are sorry for what you said. It's an old trick – fertile women always fall for it."
"Thank you for your advice."
"Always, Son. Always."