Page 25 of Cleopatra

Charmion’s blood.

I stood agape over my handmaiden’s body. The hakawati had been restrained, and I heard his cries as though they came from the end of a tunnel.

“The gods have forsaken you. You are powerless and not fit to rule. Only your blood shall purge Egypt of your evil—” His shouting ended in a gurgle, so Ahmose must have swiftly sliced his throat—I didn’t see it, though. The tunnel had darkened around me so only Charmion was visible.

I collapsed beside her. “My heart?”

Charmion looked at me and tried to smile. It came out as a wince.

“You are wounded?” I was yet to fully comprehend what had happened.

“I am.” Her voice sounded wet.

I turned her on her side. Blood seeped from an open gash in her cheek. I could see the gleam of her teeth.

My schooling came back to me in that moment. “Fetch me a needle and thread!”

Charmion whimpered. “You will be well again soon, Charmion,” I assured her.

I ignored the blood that spilled from her mouth as I cradled her face. Soon my hands were slick with it.

“Pharaoh.” Ahmose thrust forward the needle. He and Charmion were close, I knew, but from the worry in his eyes, they were closer than even I had realised.

“Take her hand,” I commanded him. “She will need to grip it.”

Charmion’s eyes rolled in her head like those of a horse ready to bolt. I placed a hand on her hair.

“I will be quick.”

But I wasn’t. I had learned the text on how to stitch together skin but had never implemented it until now. My hands shook so vigorously that the scar that went on to form was forever crooked.

All three of us were sweating by the end.

“Bring the litter,” I said hoarsely to Ahmose.

Tears and blood streaked Charmion’s face, and I gathered her into my arms.

She mumbled something against my chest, but the stitches prevented her mouth from much movement.

I leaned down to hear.

“Will I be ugly?” she whispered.

I pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. “Never. The scar will be a symbol of your fealty to me. And there is nothing more beautiful than loyalty. We are forever bound in skin and thread.”

The stillness of the crowd was unnerving as they silently moved to let the litter through. The air was no longer charged with the silence of anticipation. The story had come to an unhappy conclusion and it left them wanting.

The guards lifted Charmion to the litter.

“Wait,” she murmured.

“What is it?”

She pointed to something behind me.

I looked back, my face growing warm with fury as I saw the body of the hakawati. His blood wasn’t enough to sate my anger.

“His soul will not reach the field of reeds,” I reassured her, my voice fierce.