"I cannot fathom it, Ramses," Malawashina's voice trembled with remorse.

"I can understand that her heart must reside within a world of pain....though, what she did..."

"There is still no excuse for her hostility towards you," Ramses answered, a slight frown crossing his face.

"And it may be best that you do not bring this up with her in the future as she may use it to become ever more hostile. She is still bitter that you now have her title within the harem and thus outrank her substantially."

"I understand," Malawashina nodded. "I will try better not to take her words so much to heart, and so I will try not to provoke her."

"That will be the best for everyone, though I know it is often better said than done. She is not evil, but she has become more hostile and jealous towards the other wives since that incident. In part, I feel she holds me to blame. Though, I do not entirely fault her..."

"May I be frank?" Malawashina asked cautiously.

"By all means."

"I do not entirely blame her, either. I would perhaps feel the same if I were in her position."

"And I ask that you forgive me for placing you in such a precarious situation."

"You already know that I forgive you, my King, for if you had not placed me here with you, I would still be within Mursili's grasp," Malawashina wrapped her arms around Ramses' torso and squeezed him tightly.

"Indeed, you are right. But I do need to make it up to Isetnofret. I promised her as much, and I am a man of my word."

"I do not doubt it," Malawashina smiled as she gazed into his eyes.

"How do you plan to make it up to her? I bet you must have something rather grand in store?"

"Perhaps," Ramses chuckled, purposely avoiding answering her question.

"You are not going to tell me?" Malawashina feigned hurt as she flickered her lashes innocently. However, her acting only caused the Pharaoh to laugh a little harder at her antics.

"Not yet, my lotus, for it is a secret and must remain so."

"You know that I would not tell anybody!"

"You may not, but Utati, on the other hand..." Ramses chuckled.

"Very well. Keep your secrets, then." Malawashina huffed, crossing her arms and pouting as she turned to face away.

"Oh, come now!" Ramses took her arms and pulled her into a full embrace before she had the chance to struggle.

"The time will come when I tell you, but I shall keep it to myself for now. Now, let us prepare to go to the harem. I am sure everyone is waiting to meet you with eager anticipation."

Nefertari clapped her hands assertively to gain the attention of the women present.

"Hurry ladies, the Pharaoh and the Princess are on their way. Line up as I had instructed you. Quick, do not dally," she ushered one of the younger daughters along.

"We are not to dally, and yet they are taking their sweet time to arrive here," Isetnofret mumbled to herself.

Sutererey, who stood beside her, chuckled into her hand.

Henutmire, positioned nearby and overhearing the griping, rolled her eyes.

"Do you ever not complain, Isetnofret?"

"Do you ever not poke your nose into where it does not belong, Henutmire?"

Henutmire seethed. "Must I remind you who you are speaking to?"

"Do I care?" Isetnofret inspected her bejewelled hands, clearly showing disinterest in Henutmire's threat.

"Unlike you," Henutmire continued. "I am his sister and thus of his blood. Whereas you are nothing but a..."

"Silence, the both of you!" Nefertari had seen and heard the beginnings of their bickering and had made her way over to end their ire.

"Now is not the time for heated words. Now is the time for high celebration. I expect both of you to abide by that. Now, get into your places, for goodness sake!"

"Yes, your Majesty. My deepest apologies," Henutmire bowed her head low and reversed herself into the waiting line of women.

Isetnofret, not saying a word, did the same. Nefertari, shooting her a daggered glare, noticed the newlyweds enter and looked up with a beaming smile.

"Welcome to our new sister, Grand Princess Maathorneferure, the one who sees Horus, the invisible splendour of Ra!"

The entire harem erupted with applause, taking Malawashina by surprise.

"Welcome to the family," Ramses whispered as he leaned down to brush his lips against her ear.

Malawashina giggled girlishly as Ramses continued to whisper sweetened words of affection to her. Both regained their decorum once closer to the waiting ladies, however. Alas, one was still miffed and impatient.

"You both took your merry time to arrive," Isetnofret spoke indignantly.

Collective gasps escaped the lips of her harem sisters, and the Queen stared at her, dumbfounded.

"We were sidetracked on our way here," Ramses answered without pause as he grinned back down to the now-blushing Malawashina.

"Not like I need to give you an explanation, Princess Isetnofret."

"Some here are with child, husband. Keeping them waiting here, standing on their feet, is harsh. Especially for the Queen who is only weeks away from giving birth to your child."

"I do not need you to speak on my behalf, Isetnofret. And you speak way out of line," Nefertari glowered.

Ramses raised his hand slightly and shook his head, "No, no, she is right, my Queen. Some of you are with child, and I cannot imagine it would be comfortable for you to be standing here waiting, especially in this heat. Though I did send word that if those of you with child felt too uncomfortable, you did not have to participate," he narrowed his gaze onto the Queen.

"I hope you did not force them to," though his tone was more teasing than anything.

"No, of course not," Nefertari defended honestly as she turned to her fellow sisters.

"Did I?"

"I am not accusing you of anything, my darling Queen," Ramses chuckled as he chucked her chin up affectionately.

"But I know how you like everything to be orderly."

Nefertari grinned and flushed slightly, "You cannot fault me for that."

"Of course, I would never," he smiled adoringly at her before he turned back to beckon Malawashina to return to his side.

"Let us properly introduce you to your harem sisters, some of whom you are already acquainted with," he smiled at her.

"You know that Nefertari is my first and thus Chief Wife and the Queen of all Egypt. You have also already met Amu, our firstborn son, so no introduction is needed," Ramses began as he looked along the line of those waiting. Amunherkhepershef smiled brightly at the Princess, glad that she was finally a part of their grand family.

"My children with the Queen are Prince Parehirwenemef here, who is eleven years of age and who you may have seen at the wedding feast. Then, Prince Meryre, who is six, Princess Nefertiri, who you also met at the feast and Princess Meritamen, who is four years old."

The children bowed and curtsied in greeting. Malawashina returned their greeting in kind.

"Beautiful children, I cannot wait to get to know you all more," she commented sweetly, causing the younger ones, especially Nefertiri, to giggle.

"My second wife, as you know, is Princess Isetnofret."

"A pleasure to finally and formally be introduced," Isetnofret greeted apathetically.

"Likewise," Malawashina answered with equal enthusiasm.

Ramses, frowning slightly at their coldness, continued, "Her children are Princess Bintanath and Prince Khaemwaset, who you also met at the feast, and Prince Merneptah here, who is eight years of age."

Malawashina was still surprised at how polite and kind the children seemed compared to their mother.

"Princess Sutererey is my third wife. Her children, Princes Montuherkhepeshef and Horhirwenemef are twins at ten years old. As you can see, they're not identical, thankfully," Ramses chuckled as he continued, "And this little one is Princess Nebettawy, who is five years old."

The little girl waved before ducking to hide behind her mother. Despite Sutererey's closeness to Isetnofret, she did not appear to be as vindictive in nature. Her stature was proud like Isetnofret's, her body lean and tall like a young tree. Her pale hazel eyes shimmered from the streams of light that flooded into the harem, appearing almost translucent. She wore a flowing linen dress, and her wig was short and braided tightly with pearls of many different hues.

She petted her daughter's head in reassurance as the little girl hid and gave what appeared to be a kind smile to the Pharaoh's new bride.

"My mama is going to have another baby!" Nebettawy chirped excitedly whilst still hiding behind her mother.

"Oh, really?" Malawashina asked, feigning surprise.

"Then I must offer her my congratulations! May I ask how far along you are?" She asked, looking up at the older woman now.

"About seven moons," Sutererey answered, rubbing her bulging stomach.

"Then may the goddess, Taweret, and the god, Bes, protect and keep you and your unborn child well," Malawashina smiled.

Sutererey blushed and bowed her head in thanks.

"Princess Merytra here, who you met briefly at the feast, is my fourth wife," Ramses continued after a few moments.

"It is such a pleasure to meet you formally, Princess." Merytra beamed, her voice shrill with excitement as she took Malawashina's hands into her own.

"I was awaiting your arrival with due anticipation!"

Malawashina smiled at her words, and her heart warmed from such a gesture.

"You are too kind. I am so very glad to meet you, too."

Merytra was slightly shorter than the other wives, and her body was full and voluptuous. She had almost the same milky brown complexion as Malawashina, and her eyes were as bright as the sky above. Her pale azure dress almost matched the colour of her gaze. It flowed loosely from below her naked and plump breasts veiled by a chiffon shawl.

"I promise you, Mery, that you will have plenty of time to talk to our new Princess at length," Ramses gently moved Malawashina along, seeing how awe-struck Merytra was. Merytra let out a squeak of excitement.

"Princess Tiyamun is my fifth wife." The Pharaoh continued, "And to her, I have Princess Baketmut, who is nine, and Prince Nebenkharu, who is eleven and his older brother here, Prince Sethemwia, who is twelve. He is a little younger than Prince Khaemwaset, who is the same age."

Princess Tiyamun had a broad and bright smile, inherently excited to meet the Pharaoh's new bride as well. Like Isetnofret, Tiyamun's eyes were like that of obsidian. Unlike her fellow harem sister, however, hers were filled with gentleness. Her skin was darker than the others, which, as Malawashina was to learn, was due to her grandparents being of noble Nubian lineage.

"Due to her own pregnancy, she was unable to attend the wedding feast due to feeling unwell," Ramses explained.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry to hear that," Malawashina sympathised.

"I hope that now you are feeling better?"

"Yes, much better, Princess. Thank you for your concern."

"May I ask how far along you are with your pregnancy?"

"I am almost the same as Princess Sutererey. But I am about six moons."

"Oh, that is fantastic!" Malawashina beamed, "So many cute, chubby babies to be born soon! How exciting!"

"And soon you will have one too!" Tiyamun chirped before immediately lowering her eyes.

"Forgive me, I spoke out of line..."

"It is quite alright!" Malawashina chuckled, their husband veiling amusement with his hand as he stood behind her.

"I hope so, too!" Malawashina had leaned in to whisper to Tiyamun, who, in turn, began to giggle.

"And that is all the official wives here within the palace harem," Ramses clapped his hands to his sides, sighing after the long line of introductions.

"There are concubines here and at the harem in Mer-wer, but the wives stay here in the palace."

"Have you forgotten someone, sen-serau?" A sudden voice came from within the gathering.

Spinning around, they were faced with a woman of almost equal beauty to the Queen and adorned with finery to match her. Her emerald eyes shimmered with amusement as Ramses fumbled for an apology.

"Beloved sister, I do apologise. I was honestly about to introduce you!"

"Yes, yes, of course," Henutmire rolled her eyes teasingly.

Ramses smiled sheepishly and touched her shoulder with affection.

"I wouldn't lie to you. You know that."

"Oh?" Henutmire raised an eyebrow.

"Like that time you put scarab beetles in my bed because you thought it would be amusing and then denied knowing anything about it when I confronted you?"

The group erupted into hushed giggles. The Pharaoh flushed brightly.

"I cannot fathom how you remember that."

"I remember because of the whipping father gave you and the fact that you could not sit for a week."

"The things brothers do!" Malawashina chuckled, reminiscing about her own sibling's adventures of mischief.

"Hopefully, he is more mature now," she added in jest, flashing Ramses an innocent expression when he shot her a glare.

"I would like to think so," Henutmire laughed.

"But sometimes I just do not know!"

"Oh, hush," Ramses flushed once more.

"Yes, yes, I better not embarrass you in front of your new bride."

"And the rest of the harem," he grumbled as the other women began to chuckle more fervently.

"Well, then," he began, his voice louder so that all could hear.

"It looks like no one is getting a visit this week!"

The collective whining caused Malawashina to hide her laughter with her shawl.

"Oh, come now, brother," Henutmire began in a low tone so that only he and Malawashina could hear over the continued griping of the other women.

"Even I know you could not go without for that long."

Ramses tsked at her and took Malawashina's hand once more.

"Come, Princess Maathorneferure. I shall show you to your private quarters."

"Told you so," Henutmire poked once more.

"Stop it," Ramses flicked her ear teasingly, causing his sister to erupt with laughter.

Ramses rolled his eyes and began to lead Malawashina away, passing the other wives who were still whining about his threat. He stopped just by the Queen.

"I will be seeing you tonight," his voice was only low enough for her to hear now, causing her to grin as he and Princess Malawashina continued on their way.

"Do not worry, Mala. I can understand that remembering everyone will not be easy. Even I slip up sometimes," Ramses began when they were out of earshot.

"I find that hard to believe! You named them all flawlessly!" Malawashina chuckled.

"It is obvious that they love you, and you love them in return. It warms my heart to see such a close-knit family. As you can imagine, the harem back in Buyukkale was not a well-functioning, warm one. Only within my immediate family, and with my uncle and aunt when they were alive, may the gods keep them, did I feel any form of love."

"What about from Utati?" Ramses asked to lighten her suddenly darker mood.

"Oh yes, of course, from Utati!" Malawashina managed to laugh then.

"By the way, where is she, I wonder? I thought she and Seshen would be at my harem entrance."

"I believe Seshen and the other servants of the royal household are still busy instructing her on how things work within the palace. I'd imagine it would be a lot for her to take in all at once," Ramses answered honestly.

"Yes, you are right. At first, I thought she may have run off somewhere with Amu, but then he was present with the other wives."

Ramses could not help but chuckle at this. "The antics young people get into. Boy, do we have stories to tell!"

"I would love to hear them someday!" Malawashina beamed.

"The stories of what you and Nefertari got up to when you were both younger, and even with Isetnofret. Also, with your siblings. I can tell that Henutmire adores you. That is obvious."

"What makes you say that?" Ramses asked as he looked down at her whilst traversing through one of the smaller hypostyle halls of the harem complex.

"Just the way she was teasing you. It was not malicious. My brothers used to tease me in the same way as well."

"Is that so?" He asked curiously.

"Yes, and often. We were forever getting up to no good together, which often saw my brothers getting whipped. But I? Never. My father could never believe that his beloved, innocent daughter could be so badly behaved. My mother was not as easily swayed, though, and she did not hesitate to give me a good spanking or two when my father was not present. She knew I was often the instigator."

Ramses looked genuinely surprised, "I would never have thought!" He laughed.

"Though even I have seen how naughty you can become."

His sudden sultry words caused her entirety to heat like a blacksmith's furnace.

"My Lord Majesty, do not tease. You know what it does to me," she bit her bottom lip to tease him in return.

Purring, he pulled her into an embrace. "Do I have to take you behind one of the pillars again, my naughty little mew?"

She shivered from the anticipation that burned within her, her legs almost turning as fluid as the Nile.

"You are the Pharaoh of this very Egypt. Your wish is my command."

"Yes, indeed. However, I am at your mercy, my darling. You know I will never do a thing to you without your permission."

Unlike someone else... Her mind wandered momentarily, causing her to slip into a slight daze from the memory which flashed across her mind.

"Are you alright, Mala?" Ramses asked, concerned when her eyes suddenly glazed over.

"Yes, yes, I am fine," she smiled as she blinked quickly to clear her thoughts, turning her gaze back to her husband.

"And so," she continued, "I would ask of you to smother me with your delicious kisses," she paused briefly, her face flushing wildly. "Especially down there."

He did not hesitate to pull her into a small nearby enclave, pushing her up against the back most white-washed wall.

She whimpered in anticipation. She bit hard into her whitened knuckles to prevent her voice from escaping as he hitched her skirts above her waist.

Kneeling before her, he raised one of her legs to sit upon his broad shoulder, smoothing his fingers along her shaved skin.

He did not give her the time to relax into his touch before he did as she had commanded, causing her to hastily muffle her cry.

When he had finished with her, she was left in a panting, whimpering, and rather hot mess.

"N...now you can take me to my quarters," She breathed.

Middle Egyptian - English

Sen-serau = Younger Brother

Mew = cat

Mer-wer = Present day city of Gurob, Egypt