Chapter 5
Aknankamon paced outside his wife's rooms, anxiously. He couldn't wait to hear how she had fared during the labor. More importantly he wanted to know if both of them make it out alive. He always went to the their gods' temples to pray for both of their safety. He, of course couldn't determine what the gods had in store for them but what he wanted is both of them to be alive...
He then heard the door opened,Isis then went out carrying a bundle. She then walked towards him and handed him the baby.
"It's a girl, my king." the physician told him, her hands on her sides. Silenced.
He stopped rocking the baby then looked up, "What about my wife?" he asked, wishing that she had lived through this.
Isis shook her head, sadly, "The Queen didn't make it. I'm sorry, My king." she told him, without meeting his gaze,"I guess I better see to it that the servants cleaned up the room...and if you want the royal embalmer to be called...
"No." he interrupted. Hands tighting into fists which was beginning to tighten around the baby which he was holding, "I want to spend the last of this moment with my wife."
Isis then nodded, "As you wish, my king." she then said nothing more, knowing that the king himself wanted to be left alone, she reached for the baby, "The baby, my king."
As he was about to the hand the baby to her, the baby's eyes flew open, it was glowing crimson, "This was your wife's death wish."
Aknankamon sat up in bed, his heart racing, he couldn't believed of what he had seen! His child's eyes were glowing crimson...what does it mean? Are the gods up to something? As he was thinking about his dream, Arsinoe rose up, beside him. Seeing her husband's expression, she wrapped her arm around his shoulders.
"Is something wrong, Aknankamon?" she asked, worriedly. "If there is, I will call for Isis to-
"No, there's nothing wrong." he interrupted, then he looked at her, "It's nothing." he assured her, then patted her hand.
Arsinoe believed him. But then in her heart she felt somehow something was bothering him and she was determined to find out.
Aknankamon himself knew, that he should tell his wife,but he doesn't want her to worry eventhough it concerns her as much as it concerns their royal bloodline. She has enough already, he doesn't want another thought to be a burden. He smiled at her and got out of bed.
"Take a rest, okay?" he said, as he kissed her on the cheek. He then proceeded to the bathing chambers.
"It's you who should take a rest you have been working until late at night" she reminded him. Then laid down again, exhausted, then touched her forehead and thought about her son, in ways she herself wouldn't want to do...what if she herself doesn't survive this? Will Atem's feelings be hurt? What about the possibility that she could get pregnant what would happen to her other child?
In the throne room...
While they were conducting a meeting, Siamun couldn't stop but notice his pharaoh's slight change in concentration. He usually sits in his throne, regal and full of authority but now...it's like he was beginning to lose his demeanor...it's like...he couldn't put his finger to it...he just have to ask him later after the meeting...but now, he has to wake his pharaoh from what he was thinking right now...
"My king." he tapped the shoulder, "My king, you need to say your decision."
Aknankamon rose out of his thoughts then looked absent-mindedly at his council, "What are you saying?"
Shadi then sighed, "My king, we are hearing that famine had infected the other lands except ours...what do you think we should do?" he asked his king, who to him was looking tired as ever.
"Open the store houses. Conduct business." he said as he stood up from his throne.
"My king...isn't that a little bit dangerous? With our store houses opened...some of the people from other lands might be spies..." Jakar argued.
"DO WHAT I SAID!" the pharaoh shouted, "What does it take for you to realize that that was my decision?" he then stormed out of the room, his officials looking at his retreating back. They then looked at Siamun, which to them was the pharaoh's closest friend in the court.
The old man shook his head, "He is probably having a problem right now...let him think things."
"He walked out on us, eventhough the meeting is not yet done!" some of the council argued.
"LET HIM HAVE HIS MOMENT!" Siamun shouted, "He is also human, and being human, he also has problems. Court Dismissed." with a final wave of his hand, he dispersed the council. He then thought, 'I have to find him and know what is bothering him.'
In the palace gardens...
Aknankamon was sitting on a bench under a palm tree. Eyes closed, he thought about what his father told him. Back when he was still alive. Words that helped him rule Egypt. And also the same words, the words that helped him become the father that he was now.
Flashback...
A prince was in the palace gardens with his father. The former pharaoh was watching his son calculate the height of the tree while he sat on a bench, nearby. He was then in the mid-forties, known for his bravery and skill and knowledge beyond words.
"Aknankamon, come sit beside me." he requested, patting the bench.
The young prince rose from the tree which he was measuring, then walked towards his father, "What is it, father?"
The former pharaoh then sighed, "You know very well that you will inherit the throne someday, do you?"
Aknankamon bowed his head, before replying, "Yes, I do know father. But what are you exactly getting at?"
"I was referring to the responsibility that I would be leaving you someday."
"But father-" the young prince protested, "I'm not ready yet! I don't even know how to rule a kingdom, our kingdom!"
"Son, you know how to...you are just afraid of carrying the responsibility..." the pharaoh told him, then continued, "It's like having a family to cherish and care for...to protect..."
"Father..." the young prince looked at his father, confused, "I don't understand."
"To be a ruler is like being a father to your family...being the pharaoh of all Egypt...you are the father of all the people who resides in this nation, the one who they aspire and the one whom they believed that will do everything for them."
"But father, that's what I'm afraid of...I might fail in this."
The pharaoh shook his head, "No son. No pharaoh had been called a failure...everything from our ancestors down to us, it always comes to this... those who came before us...they have done marvelous deeds for our land, conquer and protect, and bring fame...and most importantly care for the whole nation."
"Like a father would to his children..." Aknankamon mused, "But father...I still don't get it...what is it you really want to tell me?"
The former pharaoh then looked at him, "You can't rule Egypt if you, yourself fails as a father to your family. You can't be called a great pharaoh if you, yourself does not care for the welfare of all Egypt and lands that had been conquered, and more importantly, if you already had assumed that you will fail."
Aknankamon opened his eyes as heard someone enter the gardens. Without looking who it was, he smiled and looked at the sky, breathing the desert air.
"You can come closer, Siamun."
The old adviser, chuckled, "You're senses are still strong, pharaoh."
"I'm not that old, unlike you." the pharaoh joked, then turned serious, "Why have you come here, Siamun."
Siamun cleared his throat, "I'm sorry that I have bothered your rest, pharaoh." he apologized as he watched his ruler's features creased.
"No need to apologize." Aknankamon told him, "I just want to know why you have come here."
"I just wanted to know what was bothering you earlier at the meeting." the adviser reminded the pharaoh of his attitude in the meeting earlier.
The pharaoh then sighed, "It...was nothing." he lied. He then looked at his adviser, he knew somehow that he couldn't keep his dream any longer and he would soon find out but he was afraid that it might be true...he was afraid to lose his wife and the baby she was carrying or either.
"I'm no fool, pharaoh. I clearly saw that you were being plagued by a problem earlier." Siamun told him, then continued, "What is it? You know you could tell me."
"I don't know if I should...I don't know if it was something to be afraid of..." the pharaoh sighed as he sat on the bench.
"If it was something to be afraid of...what is it?" Siamun asked, again as he sat beside his king, "You know you could tell me everything...or if you want I could tell the young prince to ask you instead."
Aknankamon shook his head, laughing silently, heavens no! if Atem will get to hear about this, the young prince surely would pester him with questions all day long or tell his wife, which he doesn't want her to know. He then sighed then spoke softly, without looking at him.
"I dreamt about my wife. She..." he broke into tears. His shoulders shook with every emotion he felt in that dream...he couldn't imagine if he lose her...even their other child. Siamun sighed, he walked towards him and put his hand on the taller man's shoulders.
"Aknankamon...it's just a dream...it might not happen...it's just the fear of what you are afraid to happen." the adviser assured the pharaoh.
"It seems so real...and it feels so true."
Siamun sighed, "My king, it's just the fear of what you are afraid to happen...he repeated...the death of your wife...it could mean something but I'm not sure what." he mused, "Maybe we should ask Isis about the future." he requested, "For your mind to be free of the troubles that this dream brought you."
The pharaoh shook his head. He doesn't what to ask Isis about the future...he wanted to see for himself what his family's future would be. Fate itself would decree what could happen.
"No, Siamun. I don't want Isis to know...it's enough that you only know."
"What about your wife? She ought to know about this!" Siamun argued, "This is about her...and about the child she was carrying in her womb."
Aknankamon thought, 'He's right. This is all about Arsinoe and our child...but I don't want her to be bothered with this...this is mine all alone.' He then looked at the sky, 'Gods of Egypt, please accord me the courage to face the fear that I am facing now.'
The gods heard his plea but not all of them were pleased about it. Meanwhile Isis was talking with Arsinoe about the problem the queen was seeing on her husband's attitude.
In the infirmary...
Arsinoe was sitting on one of the beds in the room, when Isis came in. The physician herself was shocked to see her there, that when she bowed she nearly dropped the bottles of medicine that she was carrying.
"My Queen!" Isis greeted, bowing, "I'm so sorry I didn't see you there."
Arsinoe chuckled, "No need to apologize. I know you have been busy all day long."
Isis then smiled and started putting the bottles on top of her tables,without looking she asked, "Why have you come here, my queen? Is something bothering you?"
The queen herself was about to reply when she heard the words that came out of Isis' lips. The physician then stopped when she noticed that the other occupant in the room grew quiet, she then turned to look at her, "Why aren't you speaking my queen? Is something the matter? Is the baby wishing to come out already?" she whispered while joking at the same time, while placing her hands on Arsinoe's belly. It was a secret between them and no one should know, for Arsinoe would tell the secret days later to her husband and son but not now, she had come here not for Isis to check but for a different kind of matter indeed.
"Not yet, Isis." she laughed, "It's quite too early." she then turned serious, "I have not come here to talk about my baby, I have come here to ask you about my husband."
Isis was stopped. Did the Queen knew about what happened in the meeting earlier? Why the Pharaoh himself couldn't concentrate? She had seen it earlier, and assumed that it was about something...something...a dream maybe? connected to what might happen?
'Why me? of all people in the pharaoh's court?' Isis thought, 'I'm just a woman who keeps to herself, her own business! Is this about the millennium necklace? Did the queen really want to know her future?'
"Isis!" the queen shook the physician out of her thoughts, "Isis, did you see something?" she asked, as she shook her again.
Isis was then shaken out of her thoughts, "It's nothing, my queen. There's nothing wrong with the Pharaoh physically." she assured her.
Arsinoe shook her head, "It's not my husband's physical health I'm worried about... she pursed her lips, then held Isis' hands in hers, "I know something was bothering my husband...it might be something about me...this child that I am carrying." she added, "Please Isis tell me...tell me what was ailing my husband." the queen pleaded.
Isis was stopped. She was clearly confused in the events earlier! She didn't even know what was happening earlier, even she didn't see the pharaoh's expression earlier. But after the meeting, she received a vision, a vision concerning the Queen, the Pharaoh, and especially the Crown Prince and Princess of the nation. The years after the queen died...a terrible accident would befall the youngest royal, would the queen be willing to know?
"My sincerest apologies, Majesty." the physician shook her head, "I can't tell you what was ailing your husband...it's better if you ask him, face to face." There that didn't hurt.
"I know something was up...please Isis used the necklace to tell me what really happened." Arsinoe urged her, again she shook her head, "It's unfair to see a glimpse in the future and not wait for it to happen yourself."
"Would I die? Is that what was bothering Aknankamon?" the queen asked,tightening her grip on Isis' hands, "Is that what you also saw in your necklace?"
Isis nodded her head, that was the partial truth but the vision really constitutes the years after the queen's death.
"I should have known." Arsinoe sighed, "I should really talk to my husband about this." the queen the stood up from the bed and went out of the room, leaving Isis behind. With a heart full of worry the queen walked towards her gardens, looking up at the sky.
'Gods of Egypt...why? why do I have this feeling? Tell me something! Answer me!' she shouted in her thoughts.
Author's note: Sorry for a lame chapter it's just because I was feeling...you wouldn't understand...this story might be updated longer than what you are expecting.