Page 6 of Cleopatra

“I will see you at the palace,” Charmion said.

I turned back to the ocean with triumph in my heart.

The water was warm and refreshing as I lowered myself into the churning waves. It was late shemu season and the air was hot and dry. Though I preferred the rain and milder weather of akhet, I was glad for the warmth now.

My braids floated on the surface of the water for a moment as I dipped beneath the froth of waves. I opened my eyes. The seawater was clear, despite the swirling currents. I wondered what it must be like to be able to breathe beneath the water like my younger brother. Blessed by the god Sobek, Lord of the Waters, he had received his gift as a babe.

At first his nursemaid had screamed as his fat little legs kicked him out of her grip and into the depth of the baths.

Guards were called, which in turn drew my and Charmion’s own curiosity. I still remember the envy that coursed through my veins at his laughing face as he surfaced, perfectly fine. My father had called for three days of feasting.

The goddess Isis was yet to awaken my gift. Some thought it would never arrive. Others whispered that it was too weak to show. That I was tainted, unworthy of the throne.

I did not require a very great power. My own father’s blessing had been modest. As an acolyte to the god Ihy, he could play any instrument with flawless beauty. His preference had been the flute.

My lungs began to burn, and I kicked myself back to the surface. I reached my arms out in quick, even strokes, parting the waves with my hands.

Now I will never hear Father’s sweet music again.

The waves licked at my tears, but I didn’t stop swimming until I reached the shoreline of the palace.

When my feet struck sand, I stood.

The beach soon turned to the white tiled ground of Antirhodos. The small island looked out over the city of Alexandria to the south and the harbour to the west.

The isle boasted its own necropolis, menagerie, cistern and cultivated gardens. It was a city that I called my home, but it didn’t seem large to me. I had stood upon every rock and climbed every tree. There was no place on this earth that I loved more.

Antirhodos was too beautiful to survive the test of time; unlike my myth, which is a gnarly thing.

I heard it said that all the birds from the island flew away the day before the earthquake struck the palace.

But that happened many hundreds of years from now. Long after I had died.

On the pathway beside me, two servants had wrapped cloth around the bark of a palm tree and were swaying the trunk back and forth. Another was collecting the dates that fell into a woven basket.

They stopped as they saw me, clad in nothing but my crown.

All will be well. Charmion’s words came to me, and I straightened.

There was a thud as the basket fell to the ground and the servants threw themselves down beside the spilled dates.

I cleared my throat to ensure it rang out without a warble. “Lower.”

The servants pressed themselves further into the dirt. I reached for one of the strewn fruits and chewed on it slowly. My hand was still wet from the seawater, seasoning the sweetness of the date.

“Have a basket of these sent to my rooms,” I said with the same tenor of authority.

“Yes, Pharaoh’s Daughter,” the three said in unison.

“Just Pharaoh,” I corrected them.

I wiped the sticky residue of the date on the cloth that still bound the trunk of the palm tree. My hands trembled like I had seen my father’s do when he had used his godtouched power.

I had no such divinity surging through me. But I did have power of my own.

And now was the time to wield it.

Chapter Two