Page 60 of Cleopatra

Isis, please send me the power to heal him.

I pulled his skull cap from his head and stroked his hair. “You have many more years of service in you.”

“Will you tell my mother of my death? Send her my uniform, please, to gift to the gods.”

I shook my head. “You will not die today.”

Charmion returned, thrusting the bag of my tinctures at me.

I rummaged through them, knowing that I had nothing to heal a wound this dire. But I had to try.

I unstopped a vial of propolis and applied it to a strip of linen. Then I bound it to the wound at his waist. He screamed as I applied pressure, until his screaming abruptly stopped.

“Cleo,” Charmion sobbed beside me. But I couldn’t look at her. I couldn’t bear to see the pain his death would inflict.

He was still breathing—just.

“Save him!” Charmion cried. She loved him, I could hear it in her voice.

I dived into my bag once more.

Please, Isis, grant me my gift so I may bring him back from the brink of death.

Nothing but divine power could save him. And I had none.

I slumped, my hands going slack. Then my eyes spotted a label on a jar: opium.

“I cannot save him, Charmion,” I said gently. “But I can ease his passing.”

Her sobbing grew so heavy it became silent, just the shaking breath of grief.

“May you find peace in the afterlife, Ahmose.” I tipped the entire contents of the jar into his mouth.

He shuddered once, twice, then was still.

I helped Charmion up and held her against my chest. My tears had dried, my shock mellowing to a deep heartache that left me numb.

Caesar watched me from the end of the beach, a regiment of soldiers at his back. I should have felt threatened to approach him, but I did not.

Eiras, another of my handmaidens, ran forward, and I handed Charmion to her. Then I turned to Caesar.

“I have never seen a ruler grieve for a soldier,” he said.

“He has been with me for many years. He was loyal, a friend.”

Caesar’s hand reached out as if to touch me, then he stopped himself. “I am sorry for your loss,” he said. “May your gods welcome him in the beyond.”

“They will, I will make sure of it.”

I called for a nearby servant and gave instructions for Ahmose’s body to be interred in the necropolis.

“He shall have a tomb on Antirhodos. Inform his parents of his passing and bring them to the palace. I wish to offer them roles on my staff.” I spoke plainly, my lips unfeeling.

When the servant had gone, I turned once more back to Caesar.

“It was Arsinoe behind it all. She wishes to be queen.”

“I heard.”