Chapter Eleven
was waiting in the dining chamber when my brother entered. He came alone, without Pothinus. His eyes shuttered closed as he saw me, as if he were testing the truth of his sight.
“Theos, you have been very busy.”
He lurched at my voice, as if I spoke from beyond the realm of life.
“Cleopatra, what are you doing here?” He looked to the Roman soldiers who stood behind me.
“Is it not morning? Am I not allowed to break my fast in my palace?”
“Where is Pothinus?”
Oh, poor boy, so easily frightened without his eunuch.
“Brother, you have been listening to his lies for far too long.”
Theos’s eyes flashed with anger. “It is he who uncovered your lies. You are an agent of Apep.”
My temper flared. “On what grounds do you accuse me of being Apep’s minion? The god of chaos has not claimed me and never will.”
Berenice had been murdered for the very same claim. And for the first time I wondered at the truth in it.
Had the locusts been merely coincidence?
Berenice had charmed the nobility from a young age. Courtiers hovered around her like insects round a flame. She was beloved, and defiant: a dangerous mix to a king in power.
Had my father been so threatened by her that he had spun a web of lies?
“Pothinus foretold you would say that,” Theos said.
“Isis is my benefactor. You know this, Mikro Theos.”
“My name is Ptolemy, but you can call me Pharaoh,” he said, raising his nose to the air.
My heart broke to hear him dismiss his nickname, little god. But I couldn’t let it show on my face.
“Have I ever given you cause to doubt me, Pharaoh?” I asked.
He hesitated, and I knew then that there was some semblance of loyalty left in him.
“Pothinus said—”
I cut him off with a click of my tongue. “Do not speak to me of your regent. Tell me from your own mind, have I ever given you cause to doubt me?”
He looked pensive, and in his face I could see again the boy I used to know. “You never let me make decisions. Even with Hermonthis, I wanted to go, but you would not let me.”
“It was important that I went—you do not understand the political nuance.” I did not speak on my suspicions that Pothinus had been behind the murder of the Buchis bull.
“This is what I mean! You treat me like a child. I understand political nuance.”
He pouted, and I regarded him dispassionately. “I had hoped to give you a few more years of childhood before burdening you with the rule of the lands.”
“You never asked.”
“You never asked.” I realised the conversation had devolved somewhat, but I met him at his intellectual level.
He didn’t reply.
“Come,” I said, gesturing to the overflowing platters of food. “Sit, let us enjoy each other’s company as brother and sister. We can discuss the terms of our rule once we have sated our hunger.”
He looked to the entranceway, and I wondered if he waited for Pothinus. But the eunuch would never walk these halls again, if Caesar had met my terms.
Theos lowered himself into the chair opposite me and I held out a plate of honeyed bread. At first, he looked as if he might refuse the gesture, but the glistening syrup won him over and he reached for the platter.
That was the moment that Arsinoe walked in.
The shock on her face was fleeting, but it was there. Her calculating gaze flickered around the room, taking in the Roman guards, Theos and me.
I offered her the same plate my brother had taken from. “Sister, would you care for some bread?”
She smiled, enhancing the delicate beauty that I had always been jealous of. I noticed that our time on the Nile had brought out the warmth in her dark skin. “Of course, sister.”
Neither of us acknowledged her part in the rebellion.
The younger Ptolemy joined shortly thereafter.
“You’re back from Hermonthis,” he said when he saw me. And I realised not only did he not sense the tension in the room, but he also had no idea about the plot to overthrow me.
“I am,” I said with an indulgent grin.
He nodded once and climbed into the seat next to me.
Caesar took his time arriving, and I was nearly at the end of my patience by the time he walked into the room.
He admitted to me later that his tardiness had been intentional, in order to build a sense of trepidation.
“I find people more malleable when they are nervous,” he said against my neck.
We were in bed, our limbs entangled, our sweat cooling on each other’s skin.
“It is good you do not make me nervous, then,” I said.
He lowered his chin to just below my bare breast. “Your heart would disagree.”
But let me not skip through the seasons.
“A family reunion,” Caesar said as he entered, his hands clasped behind his broad back. Caesar wasn’t arrogant in the way of most men in power I had met. He wore his authority quietly, with a confidence that made you feel like he saw you in your entirety.
I gestured to the chair to my right. “It is good that you have joined us.”
Caesar met my gaze as he sat. “It is my pleasure to be in the company of the whole Ptolemy family. Could you pass me the palm wine? I find I’ve a taste for it.”
That brought a smile to my lips. I flicked a wrist towards a servant, who moved forward to serve Caesar. When his cup was full, he tipped it in my direction.
“To the Queen’s health.”
The youngest Ptolemy, blind to the complexities of the politics at play, raised his cup to join the tribute. Caesar turned to Theos, waiting for him to do the same.
My brother looked troubled but he raised his shaking chalice.
Arsinoe spluttered in disbelief. “Theos, what is going on?”
Theos didn’t meet her eyes so it was Caesar who responded. “We are honouring the great Cleopatra Thea Philopator, born of Isis. Seventh of her name. And your pharaoh.”
I felt a thrill at my full name on his lips.
Clearly Arsinoe did not; her knuckles went white around the rim of her cup.
Caesar waited patiently, the hand that raised his chalice steady. The guards behind him shifted. But Arsinoe refused to comply.
Qar squawked somewhere behind her. “Where is Pothinus?” she said, her voice heated.
Caesar shook his head sadly and drank from his cup before replying. “Unfortunately, Pothinus has left the palace.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“He escaped before I was able to have an audience with him.”
“Escaped? Why would he need to escape? He is regent of the land,” Theos said.
Arsinoe laughed scornfully. “Don’t you see, Theos? Caesar and Cleopatra have made an alliance. I suspect Pothinus’s head was part of that deal, but our lord heard of their plan and fled.”
Theos looked at me. “Is it true?”
I inclined my head, trying to look sorrowful. “Pothinus has proved himself unworthy as regent. He sowed the seeds of dissent to usurp me from the throne. And I will not abide it. As I said earlier, Theos, you must make your own mind up now.”
“Theos,” Arsinoe said sharply. “Remember who you are true to first. The gods.”
I wanted to laugh. Arsinoe worshipped no one more readily than herself. “You have become quite devout in our days apart, sister.”
Qar flew to her shoulder, his beady eyes condemning me, and Arsinoe laid a hand on his talons. “Here sits a god, flesh to flesh with me. Can you say the same?”
She knew I could not. Isis had sent me no animal vessel, nor blessing of any kind. But now was not the time to admit that. I pressed my lips closed.
Her triumphant smile quickened my rage. “Theos,” I said, “be not swayed by Arsinoe’s passion. She has clearly grown bored, and like the many interests of her past, you too will be discarded.”
“I…” Theos’s eyes were brimming with tears.
“Pharaoh,” said Caesar, commanding Theos’s attention. “It was your father’s wish that your sister should reign by your side—will you deny him?”
“No,” Theos said quietly.
Arsinoe stood, causing the plates around her to clatter. “You will listen to a Roman over your own sister?”
“Peace, Arsinoe,” I said.
She turned her ire on me. “You have dispatched the regent of Egypt—that in itself is a crime. You are not worthy of the throne, Cleopatra.”
There was silence as Arsinoe’s betrayal sliced like a knife through my skin. “Careful,” I told her. “Your words sound like treason.”
One of the Romans behind me pulled out his sword.
Arsinoe heard the sound of metal and stilled. I saw her look to the door—she was preparing to flee. At the time I had thought it was only to her rooms, to sulk. Oh, how I underestimated her.
“Let us calm these waters and enjoy this bountiful food together,” Caesar said, trying to dispel Arsinoe’s frustrations.
“I cannot sit here and pretend that all is well,” she said. She shook her head at Theos before turning on her heel and striding out. Theos sank deeper into his seat, looking wretched.
“She will forget about the whole thing by the morn,” I said gently.
“Yes, I think it best that we all forget this unfortunate quarrel, fuelled by a regent who had much to gain from it.” Caesar acted as though the matter was resolved, his part of the deal complete.
I was not so sure.
“Is Pothinus truly gone?” Theos asked.
“Yes.” He looked downcast so I added, “Only the guilty flee.”
After a moment, Theos stood. He winced as his chair scraped the tiles—as if he’d hoped to slip away unnoticed.
“I think I will go for a swim,” he said.
“Go, but I expect you to join me at court later. You want to rule Egypt as an equal? Then that begins today,” I said.
He gave me a faint smile, his back straightening despite the burden I bestowed upon it. The younger Ptolemy left not long after.
I sighed. “That could have gone better.”
Caesar nodded. “Perhaps.”
“Tell me of Pothinus,” I said.
“When I sent my guards to his chambers, we found them empty. His belongings gone. I suspect that is the last we will see of him.”
“Do not miscalculate his ambition. He seeks to rule Egypt to benefit the nobility.”
“And you?”
“I seek to rule it for everyone.”