Finding Contentus

Chapter 122: Sacrificial Parenthood

My love for this world is like a green heart. It grows and glows like a genie in the night.

Prime Pharaoh Ramela waited perfectly, patiently, for the apple of her eye. She sauntered across the garden of the royal palace, monitoring the work of those who served her, and her Kingdom, her province.

Ramela was born to rule. She was born to have power. This she knew from the depths of her desires since her ambition to become a ruler first came into fruition.

There was an odd sense of disbelief to her wonder as she walked at a leisurely pace to ponder. She did not wear much jewelry for once, with the exception of her golden headpiece. Her emerald nightdress hugged her curvaceous figure like a lover's embrace.

Naturally, she thought of Genesia's arms. If only she could hold him forever without being forced to let go due to the constraints of duty.

She stretched her hand, collecting a bag of green grapes as she walked by the rectangular shaped fish pools. She inhaled the fragrant smell of aromatic plants and herbs that her servants collected for her perfume facilities.

She couldn't replicate Genesia's Racaan scent, but she could mass produce the bare minimum to ensure that everyone smelled pleasant, including the peasants who, quite frankly, stank. It wasn't their fault, hence the business push and marketing strategy that would advertise and allocate different ranks of perfumes and potions dependent on affordability rather than social standing.

The elites could easily afford perfumes of the highest and most expensive quality. But, that did not necessarily exclude the poor from having access to adequate and standard perfumes that were affordable to them now, thanks to her amendments.

This will have to extend to the West. Perhaps then they'll be able to smell something worthwhile that isn't fishy or fictitious to deter suspicion of the senses. She mused wryly.

Ramela found a double hammock nestled in between two quiet trees in the corner of the garden. Femi and Kepi lingered nearby. With a great sigh, she laid down on it with her hands resting on her belly, her Essenia. She smiled, indulging in the swinging motion of the hammock that surprisingly, did not make her feel nauseous.

In the meantime, Ramela did mental calculations on everything. She could see so much with the eye of Ramela. The wealth of knowledge was incalculable and invigorating.

To think that there's so much left to see like a boundless sea. Ramela and Sekhmet thought the same thing since they had become the same being.

The moon was passably visible in the night sky. It looked like a slender grasshook, cutting at the vast expanse of blues and blacks. The stars glittered like sprinkled grains. Ramela's ears picked up on the winds breathing down on the leaves like a liquefied beast cooling down from high temperatures.

A slick smile rose on her tender lips when she sensed him, heard him, smelt him, until finally — she saw him.

Genesia made his way into the palace garden, escorting Ramiya on his right. Naana had joined them at some point in brown robes.

Mantso went to Femi, waking the lioness up and scratching her head and growling as if she was displaying her strength. Femi just swatted her to the side and made sport of her form. Kepi hissed, slithering around Mantso. Ramela could almost hear the laugh in that hiss.

Azizi purred angrily at Femi who just yawned in his face. Lapis looked at Kepi oddly, as though questioning if she should bite her or not. The green mamba decided not to risk being spat at by the cobra.

Ramela's smile dropped into slight horror when she looked closely at Genesia's scarred face, at his new stripes. She was no fool. She was fully aware of this happening to him. He was a warrior after all.