“It got your attention, didn’t it?” he snarled. “But it is not only Egypt that I am wanting now. I have expanded upon that quest for something more....important. With your Bloodstone, I can manipulate time- I can manipulate those around me into doing my will. My will. With your bloodstone, I can choose my fate. And there is nothing more important than that.”
He quickly smoothed out his face and turned to me again, apparently trying to seem cooperative.
“What you and Cleopatra don’t realize is that I don’t simply wish Ptolemy to rule Egypt. I wish to set everything right—restore magnificence to Egypt—take away the power of the Roman dogs. Isn’t that what Cleopatra would wish, as well? Isn’t that what she has wished all along- to undo Octavian’s atrocities?”
His cunning smile glinted in the soft firelight of the torches and I stared at him hesitantly. What was his strategy here?
“Of course Cleopatra has wished for that. She wanted nothing more than for Egypt to regain its power from Rome. However, the window of opportunity for that has passed. It is not what the Fates have planned for her or for Egypt.”
He scoffed. “Your queen is a bigger fool than I realized. We have all of the power in the world at our fingertips. And if we would work together…. Everything could be ours. Don’t you see that, Charmian?”
He tried appealing to me, gazing at me as though he only wanted the best for everyone involved. Was he really so foolish to think that I would fall for that?
“I thought you cared nothing for Egypt now? Pothinus, whatever angle that you are trying to work here, I know that you simply want personal glory. You want the history books to proclaim you as a ruler, a great man… but you are not. You’re not really even a man, are you?”
My backhanded reference to his lack of testicles was cruel and I saw on his face that my arrow had struck its mark. It was a sensitive subject. I continued before I could lose momentum.
“You were never royalty. You were and are… simply a misguided eunuch drunk with power who doesn’t want to give it up. And you are mistaken about my bloodstone. It can’t control fate. Fate was written long ago- I simply use the bloodstone to carry it out. Its power is limited.”
As I spoke, I circled around him slowly, never taking my eyes off of his face, but subtly getting closer to Iras, who was watching our exchange with wide, terrified eyes. She now knew of the bloodstone, although there was no way she could understand it without an explanation. I could only imagine her confusion.
“You don’t know as much about your own organization as you think, Charmian. Why do you think your memories are wiped clean each life? Do you really think it is to protect you against your own nature? Don’t be naïve,” he scoffed.
“It is so that none of you are tempted to manipulate the power that you are entrusted with. The bloodstones are more powerful than you’ve ever been told. Don’t be foolish, Charmian. Everyone enjoys power. It is intoxicating. If you share the bloodstone with me, I will explain its secrets and together, we will have more power than you have ever dreamed.”
“Don’t be absurd,” I answered weakly. Could he possibly be right about the bloodstone? Was it the key? “I don’t wish to have power. I simply wish to do my job, to restore fate.”
“Do not act so superior- you cannot pretend that you do not enjoy the power of being Cleopatra’s confidante, of knowing that your advice helps shape an entire nation. You enjoy overseeing the palace and dispatching your wisdom to the queen…. Just as I did the same for young Ptolemy. You and I are not so different. We enjoy power.”
I felt literally sick being compared to this animal.
“You and I are nothing alike, Pothinus. Nothing. Of course I enjoy my relationship with the queen. She is my closest friend and I love her dearly. That is the difference between us, however. You did not love her brother. You only attached yourself to him for what he could do for you. You pinned your hopes on the wrong horse, eunuch. And I will not help you now.”
As I walked backward, my foot bumped into Iras’ leg and I knelt at her side, keeping my eyes on Pothinus.
“Are you alright, Iras? Have you been hurt?”
She shook her head and I glanced at her body. She didn’t appear to be injured, although I was certain it wasn’t comfortable for her to be lying on the hard floor of the deck as tightly bound as she was. She watched my face, waiting for what I would do.
I stood again.
“Pothinus, untie her. Keeping her here is not helping anything. I cannot hand you the bloodstone. It is bound to me- it is mine and it will stay mine. The history of the world is more important than all of us put together.”
I tried to make my voice soft and friendly, hoping that it somehow might sway him to reason. I should have known better.
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that, Charmian. Your decisions now are forcing me to kill you both.”
“I have to say, you don’t sound sorry at all, Pothinus.”
Another voice, loud and deep echoed throughout the mooring room and we turned in surprise toward it. Marc Antony was treading quietly up the long plank to the barge, dripping wet. Apparently, he had waded through the murky canal to get to us since we had the dingy. I watched as he shook the dirty canal water from his hair.
“Antony! How did you…”
I was so astonished that I couldn’t form a cohesive sentence. My initial reaction was joy… joy that he had come to save us. But it quickly turned to horror as I realized what that meant. He had probably overheard everything… and Ahmose was not going to be happy. It was yet another thing that we had now inadvertently changed. I sighed dejectedly.
“What, Charmian? You’re not happy to see me?”
Antony stepped lightly on board the golden deck of the barge, a thick gleaming sword in his hand. I was certainly happy to see that. I once again regretted not bringing my own dagger.
“Did you really think that I didn’t see you in the courtyard? Did you think that the little production I staged there was real? I had been waiting for you. I knew that you and my wife were up to something- I was quite aware all throughout dinner. It was only a matter of time until you emerged… and I followed you.”
He smirked in satisfaction, before he looked at me sharply.
“What is going on, Charmian? How are you standing here with a dead man? Pothinus died two years ago. What kind of trickery is this?”
His face was puzzled, but he kept a close eye on Pothinus, who had remained silent thus far.
“Antony, be careful,” I cautioned. “He has a dagger.” Antony flashed me a ridiculous look, rolling his eyes.
“Really, Charmian? A dagger? That’s not much of a match for my good Roman sword, now is it? He would have to get close enough to me to use his little knife… and that’s not going to happen.”
Quicker that I would have ever thought possible from such a large man, Pothinus lunged from where he was standing to where I was, roughly grabbing me and holding me to his chest… his dagger to my throat. I sighed.
“Um, Antony?” I called, raising my eyebrows and staring at him. “What now? I told you he had a dagger.”
Antony rolled his eyes at me again as he tossed his long sword from one hand to the other, circling around us.
“This is not the time, woman. Be still. I don’t want to accidentally hit you.”
I froze.
“Antony, you can’t possibly mean to…” My hesitant voice trailed off.
He did certainly look as though he intended on striking Pothinus even though I was clutched so tightly to the eunuch’s chest. My thoughts swirled… this couldn’t be happening. I was going to be sliced open from head to toe. I just knew it.
Suddenly, I remembered my bloodstone. The heavy fist-sized stone still hung motionlessly from my neck, pulsing against the soft skin of my chest. Pothinus’ arm was snaked around my neck, leaving my arms uninhibited. I glanced nervously at his face, but he was completely distracted by the large sword that Antony was brandishing. He somehow didn??
?t notice that it rested against his arm.
Before I could change my mind, I yanked the bloodstone out of my tunic, snapping the thin golden chain that it dangled from. As hard as I possibly could, I smashed it into the eunuch’s sweaty forehead. Taken by surprise, he released me and stumbled backward, clutching both hands to the large gash in his head. Blood had already started gushing from the wound, flowing heavily over his hands and into his eyes.
“You bitch!” he snarled as he continued to stumble backward.
He frantically wiped at the blood streaming into his eyes, trying to see. Unfortunately for him, however, he didn’t see the railing of the barge directly behind him. Stumbling against it, it knocked his knees out from under him. He teetered briefly on the edge, frantically trying to regain his balance. His fleshy face terrified, he reached out to me for help. I offered none. But before I could move, he grabbed my hand.
Instead of pulling me with him as I expected, he wrenched my bloodstone from my hand and then toppled over into the water. I gasped as I heard the confirming loud splash below us.
Rushing to the rail, I peered over it into the murky water below. Pothinus hadn’t surfaced yet. I watched for a few more minutes, but still didn’t see him emerge. He was gone… and so was my bloodstone. Again. I sighed and turned to find Antony kneeling on the deck as he swiftly cut through the ropes that bound Iras.
She sat up stiffly, rubbing her wrists and ankles as she stared at me, her face shrouded in uncertainty. I couldn’t imagine her confusion… at having been kidnapped by a dead man.
“Charmian,” she asked, her voice confused. “What is going on?”
As she spoke, I noticed that one of her cheekbones was swollen, her ebony skin bruised and puffy around it. I hadn’t noticed it before and I felt instant rage at Pothinus for having injured such a gentle, kind woman.
But my anger was quickly forgotten as Antony stood and turned to me, his eyes glinting mockingly as he stepped toward me, watching me as I gazed into the water in horror. As it turned out, my bloodstone had protected me after all. I could never tell Cleopatra. She would think that she willed it to be so. But now it was gone- and I didn’t know what we would do.
Antony gently grasped my arm and turned me toward him.
“Yes, Charmian,” he drawled, “It seems that you have some explaining to do.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The walk back to the palace was a long one. Not because I was supporting Iras’ weight as she limped along on her sore ankles, but because I wasn’t sure how to answer Antony’s demands for information. And one thing about Antony… he was definitely demanding. He expected to get what he asked for.
“Antony, I told you,” I leveled my gaze at him once more as we trekked along the beach to the palace. “We’ll go straight to Cleopatra and get the answers that you seek.”
I was desperately trying to buy time, to decide what to do, so I allowed him to think that Cleopatra was the mastermind behind our deception.
“And I told you, Charmian,” he replied through gritted teeth. “She won’t give me the answers that I seek. She’ll give me what she wants me to hear. I want the real answers from you, right now.”
I sighed and stared at the fiery light of the lighthouse across the harbor. It was hard to believe that I could’ve died beneath it just a scant hour ago. It seemed so benign now as its beacon guided sailors safely in from the sea.
“Antony, please. You know that I cannot do that. Don’t ask me to- You know that I am loyal to you, my lord… but my loyalty is first to Cleopatra.” I implored him with my eyes and he grunted in frustration, looking away.
“Oh and Antony…”
He glared sullenly at me once more. “Yes?”
“Thank you for saving my life.”
His taut mouth stretched into a grin.
“You saved your own life, Charmian. You’re quite the feisty hell-cat!”
He slapped my shoulder and we continued on past the guards stationed at the staircase in silence. He abandoned his efforts to get information from me, as he scooped Iras up in his arms and carried her up the stairs.
As we re-entered the palace, Antony led the way, barging down the quiet hallway with the subtly of a charging bull. I sighed again. At this rate, he was going to wake the entire palace.
He pushed open the doors to Cleopatra’s chambers without knocking, as I trailed along in his wake. Cleopatra was reclining in a chaise lounge by her open balcony doors, reading thick papyrus scrolls by the light of an oil lamp. She looked up in surprise as we barged into her chamber.
“Antony, what in the world…” her voice trailed off. “Iras!” she breathed, obviously relieved.
“So you did know,” Antony hissed at her as he towered above her. “You knew that Pothinus was holding Iras hostage… because he wants some sort of magical stone. And you never thought it was important enough to share with me!”
His voice elevated to a thunderous pitch and I cringed. Antony was a kind man, but he did have an explosive temper.
“My lord,” Cleopatra purred soothingly as she rose from her lounge.
She took one look at my face and read the unspoken message there. She rolled with the punches and I had never been so impressed. The woman was good.
“I did not share it with you because the more people that knew, the more dangerous the whole situation became.”
I was certain that she was dying to know what had happened with Pothinus, but she didn’t show it. She reached up to touch Antony’s face, but he jerked away from her hand.
“Cleopatra, this is unacceptable. You will explain what is going on!” he thundered.
She glanced quickly at me before returning her gaze to her angry husband. I knew that her wheels must be spinning a mile a minute, thinking of damage control and trying to decide what to say, probably wondering what I had already said.
Unfortunately, as far as I could determine, there wasn’t much she could say… except for the truth. She must have come to the same conclusion, because she sank back down into her chaise with a sigh.
“Alright, husband. If you will have a seat and be calm, I will explain to you all of the complexities that I have been dealing with. I’m warning you now, though, you won’t like it.” He nodded curtly, accepting that.
She nodded too, in resignation as Antony lowered Iras into a chaise lounge and then dropped his large body to sit next to Cleopatra on hers. He tapped his foot as he waited expectantly. I crossed the room to sit with Iras while Cleopatra began to speak.
It took her the same amount of time to explain to Antony as it did when I explained it to her. At the end of which time, both he and Iras’ eyes were the size of silver dollars. He rose shakily from his seat, paced to the balcony and stared at the sea and then paced back to fall on his knees in front of Cleopatra.
“You know our future?” he asked again uncertainly.
“Yes, my love. I do,” she confirmed. She reached out and grasped his hand. “And trust me, there is no place I would rather be than here with you right now.”
His face softened as he gazed at her.
“I feel the same, my queen,” he murmured. “But tell me. What happens to us?
She hesitated. I bowed my head. I dreaded this next part.
“We die, Antony,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry… we what?” He asked incredulously.
“We die, Antony.” She gestured toward Iras and I. “All of us in this room will be dead in a week’s time.”
Iras inhaled sharply and her nails dug into my arm. I gently uncurled her fingers and placed them at her side. She looked at me apologetically, but didn’t say anything. Instead, her gaze was glued to Cleopatra.
“But that was before,” he rasped in frustration. “Before you found out. You can change it now. We can live.”
Her face was inordinately pained as she stroked his back gently.
“I could change it, yes. But my love, I cannot. Don’t you see? We cannot change history. We hav
e already upset things that were never meant to be upset. And now here we are, worse off than ever...because even more people know about this situation.” Her shoulders were slumped as she realized the gravity of our predicament.
Antony was staring at the queen in disbelief, flexing and unflexing his large fists at his sides.
“You mean to say that you could save all of our lives, but you will not?” he asked in astonishment. “I don’t believe you, Cleopatra.”
His disbelief and puzzlement was written all over his face. I knew it must pull on Cleopatra’s heartstrings, because it certainly pulled on mine. And when she spoke, her pain was clearly evident in her voice.
“Antony, that was my initial reaction also- that we must save everyone. But think on this. History has already been written. We cannot change it, because things happened as they were meant to happen. But don’t you understand what I am saying to you? We will die here and now in Alexandria, but we will go on to live… over and over again. Death is not forever, my love. It is not the end.”
His jaw was set mulishly as he glared at her.
“You are impossible, Cleopatra. Do you not love me enough to save me? I would die for you! I love you that much!”
“I know, husband,” she whispered. “Do you not see how much this pains me? You did die for me. Charmian has told me that you impaled yourself on your own sword and died in my arms. I have no wish to live through that—you might as well rip my heart from my chest right here and now. Yet, it already happened… and it will happen again, We cannot stop it.”
“Do you die with me?” Antony asked thinly.
“Not at the same time. Apparently, Octavian sneaked someone into a window of my tomb and apprehended me before I could. It took me a few days to outsmart him and manage to join you in death.”