Favored By Her Father

When I moved into my new husbands' home, he was not there. There was some unrest at one of our borders and he had gone to deal with it. I wandered around the house feeling very depressed. There were only three servants in the house and they tended to stay out of my way, so I was mostly alone. I decided to stay in my room and spent most of my time sleeping or reading.

Four days later, Jabari returned, but avoided me, leaving me feeling lonelier than before. I saw him in passing and while he was kind to me, our conversations were kept short.

"How are you?"

"Have all your things been unpacked?"

"It is a nice day outside."

"That's a lovely color on you."

I longed to be comforted. I wanted someone to tell me that it would be alright, that Jabari would be a kind man. But no one did and I was not allowed back at the palace yet. My mother had forbid me from coming without my husband, afraid that I would run away.

When I had been there for three weeks, I locked myself away in my room and refused to eat, sending the servants away. A terrible sadness had filled my belly; I had no need for food. Jabari banged on the door a few times, but I ignored him. Finally he simply forced his way into the room and demanded I eat. I merely glanced at him, then turned to stare out the window once more.

"Stop acting foolish," he barked. I frowned. How dare he address me with such familiarity? He did not know me.

"Leave me alone," I said. "You do not care." He seized me, hauling me upright and held me close to his body.

"Of course I care!" he snapped, "I do not want my wife to starve herself!"

"Or course," I bit out, "It might tarnish your reputation."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, gripping my chin so I could not turn away from him.

"Your new wife is so unhappy she would rather starve herself than have to be in your presence," I cried, tearing away from him. "How could you do such a thing to me? I do not want to be here! Send me home!"

He watched me calmly throughout my rant and when I was finished he asked,

"Do you feel better?"

"What?" I was confused.

"Do you feel better," he repeated, "Since you vented on me? Would you like to hit me as well?"

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" I asked, furious that I was being made fun of, that my pain was taken so lightly.

"I assure you, I am serious. If it would make you feel better, you may hit me."

"You would let me beat you up?" I asked cautiously.

He snorted, "You cannot hurt me."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I snapped, my anger returning.

"Physically, you are no match for me," he said.

"That does not mean I cannot hurt you!" I cried, standing to face him. He smirked and leaned down, scooping me up in one arm and spinning me around. He threw me into the air and caught me, cradled in his arms.

"Show off," I muttered. He pulled me up so my face was close to his.

"Do you want to hit me?" he asked again.

"No," I said.

"Will you eat?" he asked. I nodded.

"If you will keep me company," I said. At that moment I forgot all my anger towards him. I was lonely. I grew up with twenty-five brothers and sister around my same age and many other siblings in varying ages. I was hardly ever alone and it was depressing.

Jabari motioned in a servant who brought in a large tray of food. We ate in silence for a while until I blurted out,

"Why you?"

"What do you mean?" Jabari asked.

"I mean, why did Papa choose you?" I clarified.

"He did not," Jabari replied, wiping his mouth. "I asked for you."

"Why?" I questioned. He looked at me confused.

"You…" he began, but stopped. "Never mind. I will tell you another time."

"Tell me," I insisted.

"No," he said, pressing a sweet date to my lips. "Eat."
I opened my mouth and let him feed me.

"Tell me," I repeated around the food in my mouth. He pressed another piece of fruit to my lips, but I pushed him away.

"Jabari!" I exclaimed, after I had swallowed my food. He grabbed me and pressed his lips to mine in a sweet, dry kiss.

"Tell me," I mumbled against his jaw.

"Be silent," he murmured, pressing me back into the bed with his weight.

"No," I said, "I want to know!"

"It is not important," he whispered, running his fingers through my hair.

"It is to me!"

He began to untie my dress, the whole time staring intently into my eyes, as if he was trying to show me something.

"I do not want to have sex," I cried, "I want you to tell me why you picked me!"

"Later," he said. "I will tell you later." He kissed me deeply, pressing his body close to mine. I heard the tray of food crash to the floor but I did not care. I did not care how angry I was with Jabari and everyone else for conspiring to make me leave my home. I did not care that my husband kept me in the dark about why he had asked for me to be his bride. I was starved for human contact. I let him undress me and I watched as he tossed aside his own wrap. His skin smelt sweet and his body was warm. I clung to him, crying out when it hurt, letting him kiss away my tears.



When I awoke, the sun had set. The servants had come in and cleaned up the spilt tray, then opened the balcony doors to cool the room. Jabari lay on his back with one arm flung out to the side and the other wrapped tightly around my waist. My head was pillowed on his chest with my arm draped across his ribs.

I glanced up at him to see if he was awake and found him staring at me.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Sad," I said, moving away from him. I sat up in bed and he moved behind me, pressing kisses to my neck.

"Why?"

"Because I cannot go home," I said.

"You are not going home," he said. "I would not let you."

"You would not let me?" I snapped.

"No," he said simply. "I love you. I am not letting you go." I pulled away from him, glaring.

"You do not even know me!" I exclaimed. He smirked and pulled me back onto the bed, wrapping his arms around me.

"I love you," he said again.

"How can you love me?" I asked.

"I just do," he said.

"I am not playing this game with you," I sneered, pulling away from him again. "Get out of my room."

"This is my room, too," he told me calmly.

"What? You mean we share a room?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"It is just unusual."

"Not really. It is actually very common."

"But Papa always had separate rooms."

"Your Papa had a harem. I doubt all eight of his wives could have shared a single room with him."

"But, if this room belongs to both of us, where have you been sleeping?"

He smirked. "My study."

"Why?"

"I wanted to give you time to adjust to living here."

"Oh, that is very kind."

He stretched his arms and patted the bed.

"Come, lay down with me," he said.

"No," I said. "You are trying to have sex with me."

"I do not deny it," he replied.

"I do not want to get pregnant!" I cried.

"Too late," he said.

"How would you know?" I asked.

"I have confidence in my virility," he answered.

"That is foul," I retorted.

He shrugged, "It is the truth."

"I am not pregnant," I said firmly.

"Think what you will," he said with a grin, "but we will know I am right when you make a mad dash for the toilette room every morning." With that he pulled me down to the bed.

"Do not touch me!" I hissed.

"Fine," he said coolly, letting me go. "I will not touch you." He made himself comfortable and closed his eyes. I moved to the far side of the bed and curled into a ball, drifting fitfully off to sleep.



When I woke, I was alone. I stood and dressed myself then went to seek out a servant. I found two of them down stairs, putting food on the table.

"Where is Jabari?" I asked. A woman named, Aikla, answered me.

"He has gone to the palace, my lady."

"And he did not take me?" I yelled. The woman cowered.

"You were asleep, my lady," she said.

"He should have woken me!" I was so upset. My husband had left me at home while he had gone to see my beloved Papa. I felt tears will up in my eyes.

"My lady, breakfast is ready," Aikla told me. I sat at the table, picking at my food. After a while I stood, sick of looking at my meal. I was going to go to Jabari's study and pick through his books for something to read, but Oba called out,

"The master is home!"

I ran to the front room where Jabari stood, handing something off to Oba.

"You ass!" I shrieked. I ran to him and beat my fists on his chest.

"What did I do?" he asked, grabbing my wrists.

"You went to the palace without me!" I screamed, tears running down my cheeks. "You know I cannot go without you! I wanted to see my family!" Jabari's house was a two hour carriage ride from the palace.

"You were asleep," he said.

"You should have woken me!" I sobbed.

"I am sorry," he said, cupping my cheek and wiping away my tears with his thumb. "I will take you with me next time."

"Promise?" I asked, looking at him warily.

"Promise," he said. "I brought you a present." He handed me a bouquet of blue lotus flowers.

"Thank you," I said, surprised. I inhaled their sweet, potent fragrance. "Oba, will you put these in a vase beside my bed?"

"Of course, my lady," Oba said and left to do as he was asked.

"I ran into one of the priests from Karnack," Jabari said after Oba had left. "He asked if you would sing at the temple of Amun for the upcoming ritual."

"What did you tell him?" I asked.

"I told him I would ask you," he replied. "So, will you?"

"Alright," I said, "When is it?"

"Two months," he answered.

"I will do it."

I turned to go back upstairs.

"I am going to read," I said.

"Do you not need to run the house hold?" he asked. I stared at him, shocked. I had forgotten it was my job to do that. I suppose for the past few days the servants had either been instructed by Jabari or just done what they thought they needed to.

"Oh, yes," I said. "I forgot. I am also to assist in beer making. Do you have the things to make it?" Jabari gave me a strange look, but said;

"Of course. Ask Aikla, she would know."

"Very well," I said and walked off. I realized it was foolish to ask if he had the equipment to make beer. Beer was a staple in all Egyptian households.

I found Fenuku watering the plants in the garden.

"Can you please gather the other servants and meet me back here?" I asked.

"Of course, my lady," he said and ran off to do as I had asked.

After a couple minutes I had the servants gathered in the garden.

"Oba, I want you to wash the floors, Fenuku I want you to clean the pond, then I want you both to dust the house. Aikla you can assist me in making beer. When we are done, you can help dust as well."

"Yes, mistress," the replied in unison. Oba and Fenuku walked off and I followed Aikla to where the equipment to make beer was.

"That was not so hard," I muttered, proud of myself.