Page 49 of Cleopatra

His gaze dropped to my clavicle, where I held the gold chain of my necklace in a tight grip. “Cleopatra.” He did not call me Pharaoh, or Queen, but he spoke my name with equal reverence.

Despite the apprentice uniform, he had deduced who I was immediately. Caesar was an astute man. I always wondered how the senate went on to ambush him so easily. To be betrayed so thoroughly in his last moments must have sent his soul into the afterlife a tattered thing.

“Your disappearance has caused quite the commotion,” he continued.

I stepped over the lip of the chest as though descending from a throne. With my chin held aloft, I spoke with a serenity I did not feel. “ ‘Disappearance’ sounds so enigmatic. I’d prefer to call it a timely arrival.”

His lips quirked, pulling my gaze to them. “As you will.”

Caesar was a man of few words, and those he did utter were spoken with intention. I waited for him to say more, but he just watched me with those dark, fathomless eyes.

The silence wasn’t entirely unpleasant as we appraised each other. And though I could have basked beneath his gaze for much longer, I had a queendom to reclaim.

I tried to bring order to my thoughts, to voice my wants—not my wanting—but to my horror, my tongue lay lame in my mouth.

Though the struggle was not plain on my face, Caesar made his impatience known with the single word, “Yes?” Such brevity.

I needed something to loosen the cord of tension around my throat. I strode to the terrace that overlooked the gardens below. My intent was to savour not the view, but the palm wine I had hidden beneath the stool there. I reached for it, and for the two chalices that were for my and Charmion’s use.

Caesar followed me outside as I poured myself a cup. The golden liquid warmed my stomach and left my tongue tingling. “I am here to discuss my throne.” The words came easier now.

I poured Caesar some wine and he took a leisurely draught before replying, “Few people could look so regal in such bland clothing.”

I tried not to let the compliment affect me, but my chin lifted a little higher. “You agree, I am Queen?”

He let out a light laugh and I found I liked the sound of it. “It is not I who deny your royalty.”

“No, but neither do you dissuade my brother from his folly.”

He cocked his head. “You think it folly? I think it cunning. He is young to be so ambitious.”

“It is not him writing the words of his story. Pothinus holds the pen.”

“His regent? The eunuch?”

“Yes. I was blind to his machinations until it was too late.”

“I see there is more to the story than what I have heard from your brother. Pothinus has trained him well.”

I thought of the sweet boy I had grown up with, and how the brief glimpse of Theos earlier had been someone entirely different. I had been foolish as well as naive.

“They spread false truths about the gods, claiming I have brought the famine to the land.”

“All of your gods are false truths.” He spoke matter-of-factly, with no hint of an insult. “I paid no heed to his stories of gods and powers. What I did find interesting was his insistence that the people of Egypt no longer see you as worthy of the crown.”

I could feel my blood begin to simmer. “What is worthiness to a Ptolemy? You speak of false gods, but I stand before you.” I tugged the robe from around my waist, releasing my bare shoulder. I tipped my head so my hair swung aside, baring the mark of Isis on the back of my neck.

Caesar stepped closer, until I could feel his breath warm my skin. Despite my anger, I felt myself shiver beneath his scrutiny. “I do not deny your family’s gifts are impressive. But I lay fealty to Jupiter; his blessing is enough for me.”

My skin heated still more, in a wave that ran the length of my body. Between my rage and Caesar’s proximity, it was hard to distinguish the cause. “Impressive? We are the very essence of Egypt. No one can tell me I am not worthy. For Egypt is me.”

Caesar stepped away from me. “Then why is it that your brother sits on the throne, and you are here, hiding in my rooms?”

I hissed through my teeth. “Even gods make mistakes.”

He smiled at that, and his face transformed. Before, I would not have called him a comely man. But as the hollows of his cheeks rounded with the grin, the years that separated us fell away. “It is true. Once, my lord Jupiter sought to destroy all men. Yet here I am.”

I watched him over the rim of my cup before taking a deep drink of the palm wine, which filled me with confidence. “You were a friend to my father. A loyal ally of Egypt. I ask you to stand by his will and reinstate me as Pharaoh.”