On the return of the Punt army back to their kingdom, they were met with a scary look on the king's face depicting his disappointment regrading g their defeat in the war. They have had the speculation of a triumph after the battle since they had the army with the greatest number of warriors but turn to disregard the reputations and capabilities of the Kitara army. No matter the number of your army, without any strategic plan or leader, victory is never something you should hope for, and that was exactly what happened to the Punt army. Most of their men were held captives including their chief commander while the rest took the wheels as fast as they can back to their kingdom, with shame covering their flag.
Masinissa Linette Duah II, king to the Ptolemaic Kingdom, was so delighted and could not express his happiness upon hearing the defeat that the Punt army had gone through. He, together with his cabinet, celebrated that temporal victory but are much aware and prepared for the worse that may come later on. The great king of the Ptolemaic Kingdom then summoned the presence of the Kitara king, to have some deliberations, as to what next step to take and the possible ways they can strengthen their ties as the allies they have always been. Nothing sounded more relief than the sound of victory over an enemy who has been nothing but a jeopardy to the peace and security of kingdoms, which posses them as a threat and must be eliminated by all means possible.
While celebrations and meetings are ongoing in regard to the war at hand, Princess Nala is getting worse by the day but trying her best to hide it from everyone, hiding it away even from her designated maids, Amari and Zibo, since they are certain of noticing everything at the start and might be tempted to go before the king again with her complaints. She is beginning to get more and more worried as her body is taking a swift transformational form from what she already had. She turns to be growing bigger and bigger while her quest for food is growing as big as her body too. Her mother, the queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, has also began expressing her concerns over the changes of her daughter. She begins confronting Nala on several occasions, yet she keeps ignoring and escaping her mother's curiosity anytime she tries bringing them up. Her situation keeps getting worse but still pretends everything is actually okay with her.
Amari and Zibo are no getting more concerned about it and are also thinking of going to the king again with the same story, but the issue is if it is the right time for something like that to be brought forth to the king, yet he has so many things on the table to deal with. As they thoroughly thought through, they then agreed to confront the king instead of going to the king with the issues concerning their princess. It was a rare situation to summon the audience of the queen when the king is around and is the one supposed to attend to all matters relating to both his family and the kingdom. It is a rare circumstance because she is hardly hear of since her duties as queen are not as piled as the king and makes her not be seen frequently in the kingdom. The queen being a polite and considerate woman, she accepted their request and attended to their hearing.
Amari: My Queen, we are sorry to have summoned you impromptu, but the issue at hand is quite urgent.
Queen: Nothing to worry about Amari. You may proceed with what you have for me.
Amari then turns to Zibo for her to start with the conversation.
Zibo: My Queen, we have been observing our mistress, the princess, for quiet some time now and we have been noticing some changes both in her physical body and her attitude.
Queen: What king of changes are you talking about. (The queen is beginning to sound more concerning) What have you noticed of my daughter?
Zibo: She is growing bigger and bigger than her usual size and her attitude towards everyone is changing by the day.
Amari: (Interrupts sharply) She is easily angered and get irritated at the slightest of goading. That we find a bit unusual of her my queen.
Queen: And what are your insinuations in respect to that? (She asks)
Amari and Zibo both looked at each other waiting on who to first say what they are both having in mind. At this point, Zibo is trying to be extra careful before Amari will set her up before the presence of the queen just as she did in the presence of the king.
Amari: We are not trying to insinuate anything in respect of our mistress the princess, but we are only trying to show some concerns since we are women and know the meaning of the changes, we women go through at some point in our lives.
Queen: Can you just go straight to the point. What are you both trying to say. (Speaks calmly)
Zibo: We suspect our mistress might be pregnant your highness, with all due respect. (She says while shivering before the queen hoping her words does not get her into any trouble this time around)
Queen: And since when have you noticed this? (Addressing to both of them)
Amari: It has been quiet long since we began observing these changes in the princess. Approximately over ten market days.
Zibo: We have observed that she has a big appetite for food, even for the things she usually does not like being served to her. Her feet are swollen and keep swollen while her face looks more pale than usual.
Queen: And ever since you start to observe all these in your mistress, what stopped you from coming to be?
Amari: My queen, we thought your schedules were tight and we did not want to disturb you with minor issue of this nature.
The queen starts to get more worried as to why they are saying to her the same things she has been observing about her daughter and yet the princess will not allow her mother asked question and to help if necessary.
Queen: Who else have knowledge of what you are telling me? (She asks with a bit more of curiosity)
Zibo: The king was the first person we stated these things to in regard to the princess. We did not know what to do so we requested the audience of the king and enlightened him about his daughter's situation.
Queen: (Sounding a bit galled) You did what? Why would you go to the king in situations like this? Do you want to bring disgrace upon your own princess?
Amari: No, my queen. We did not know what to do and we couldn't come to you either. That was why we went straight to the king to lay our concerns to him.
Zibo: We did not want things to get out of hand and later be blamed of not being cautious about the princess. All we want is the wellbeing of the princess sine she will be our queen very soon.
Upon listening to Zibo and Amari, the queen also told them about her own observations and how the princess tries running away from her whenever she brings s issues regarding her changing nature. The queen is more disturbed because she will be blamed of negligence, and this will also bring shame to the throne and the kingdom. When this happens, no war or coupe will be needed to shame the kingdom.
Queen: Now you both should listen to me. (Looking into the eyes of both Amari and Zibo) I would want to believe that no other ear has heard of this about the princess. This should be something between us and think of the possible ways to help the princess and save our kingdom. This is not the time to disturb the king with any of this issue, because as it stands, he has more pressing issues on the table to attend to and we should be an extra to that trouble. Amari and Zibo both nodded in obedience ad took their leave out of the queen's chamber.
Things are beginning to get too obvious and if no action is taken, it will soon get to the eyes of the dwellers in the kingdom, and this will be the end of a reign filled with nothing but sanctity and acknowledgement.
The queen then took it upon herself to have this conversation with her daughter in finding out who if the observations are true and to find out who might be the person to put the only princess of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the family way. The queen has also pledged to herself to help the situation in the best possible ways that she can, but will the princess held her mother in this situation.