Daughter of Isis; Son of Mars
Disclaimer: all recognisable characters belong to the esteemed and excellent Deb Harkness. I own nothing, and have taken much poetic license with history.
Timeline
47 BC – Caesar arrives in Alexandria. Egyptian forces under Arsinoë IV defeat the Roman fleet at the Pharos Lighthouse. Arsinoë is traded by her own men for her brother, King Ptolemy XIII.
46 BC – Arsinoë is taken to Rome and paraded in triumph. Caesar is pressurised by public opinion to spare her life. She is exiled to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
44 BC – Caesar is assassinated. Octavian Caesar and Mark Antony, after a brief alliance, conflict with one another for the first time. They later reconcile. Antony rules the East.
41 BC – Cleopatra and Antony become lovers. Cleopatra requests Arsinoë's execution, which is carried out by Antony's forces. Her murder, committed on the steps of the Temple of Artemis, shocks and appalls Rome.
Arsinoë's year of birth is debated by historians. Earliest estimates put her year of birth as 68 BC, making her 27 at the time of her death. I have used this.
Ok, boring history stuff over with.
Enjoy!
It had been obvious from the moment she entered the palace – carpet and all – that Cleopatra was a witch. There had been one or two others in Alexandria but this one was undoubtedly the most dangerous. Not because she was hugely powerful in magic, but because she was obviously conniving, ambitious, volatile - and royal.
Particularly volatile this morning, it seemed. Lucius was with Caesar and his staff, the mortals breakfasting on bread and honey, and Lucius with bread broken into many pieces. The atmosphere had been relaxed for the first time since they arrived, jovial even. Until Cleopatra had stormed in with her retinue, furious.
"Arsinoë is gone!"
Caesar rose to his feet. "Queen Cleopatra. Good morning."
"This is not a good morning, Caesar! Did you not hear me? Arsinoë and Gandymedes are gone! They have escaped!"
"I heard you."
"Then find her! She is your enemy as well as mine, need I remind you!"
Caesar adopted the same amused expression he had used for the past few weeks around Cleopatra. So far it had done nothing but annoy her, and sure enough, Lucius smelled singed hair and rain as her magic stirred now. He picked up his water cup and drank, the movement simple but enough to catch her attention. As he had done with her, she had identified him as a threat as soon as the Romans arrived in Alexandria. She therefore kept half an eye on him at all times and, thus far, had not made any directly aggressive overtures. Now their gazes met for half a second, the glance enough of a reminder. The smell of magic withdrew.
Caesar – who, for an astute man, was remarkably good at ignoring any and all creatures in his midst – carried on smirking. "I realise your sister and her eunuch may be, in theory, my enemies, Queen Cleopatra, but you must see that their escape hardly vastly increases the magnitude of the threat. Achillas controls a sizeable force already, and two people cannot add to it."
"Arsinoë could add to it – she will draw the support of those who resent Rome's presence in Egypt."
Lucius agreed. "Her royal status does make her a figurehead in a way Achillas cannot match," he pointed out to Caesar. "Even if he has declared himself Pharaoh."
"I want her imprisoned!" Cleopatra reiterated. Lucius wondered if foot-stamping would come next. "Imprisoned or dead!"
"I am not in the habit of murdering girls," Caesar snapped, the amusement disappearing. "She will be found and returned to captivity, but not harmed."
Cleopatra's mouth compressed into a thin line. "Fine."
Lucius was unhappy, but unsurprised when Caesar turned to him. Throughout successive campaigns in Gaul, Britannia and the recent war with Pompey's legions, Caesar had learned well that if a hostage needed to be taken, or rescued, Lucius was the tribunus most likely to complete his task and be alive for the telling of it. Lucius' differences merely marked him out as a useful tool to Caesar. It was conceivable that he did not particularly care why Lucius was so able, only that he was.
"Tribunus," Caesar said. "I'm charging you with retrieving Princess Arsinoë. You heard me. Alive and unharmed."
He might be under Caesar's command, but the general did listen to rational opposition, so Lucius had no issue raising an objection now. "Surely, Caesar, it would be better to strike Achillas' forces first. With Arsinoë's arrival, the loyalty of his men will be split. They'll be confused, easy to divide. Arsinoë might attract more supporters, but if the men fighting under her banner are all dead, she cannot do anything about it. No matter Ganymedes' reputation."
Arsinoë's mentor, the eunuch Ganymedes, was by all accounts clever and quick, and developed sound strategy. He had obviously been overruled in the case of Pompey. No decent tactician could have misread the situation so badly as to believe Caesar could want Pompey's head in a basket.
Caesar considered Lucius' words, but shook his head. "No, Queen Cleopatra is right, and in any case, the prevailing wind is keeping us in the bay at the moment. Go and retrieve Arsinoë. If you can't, learn as much as you can about the force opposing us, and return."
"Caesar." Lucius stood and saluted.
It was not difficult to take a small unit of legionnaires to the Egyptian front lines and allow them to be captured. As in previous instances of using this tactic, Lucius had selected the weakest among Caesar's men, or the sickest. The ones, who, in all likelihood, would not be leaving Egypt alive anyway. Only one of the dozen he took on the 'scouting mission' seemed to recognise what it actually was: Quintus. A grizzled veteran nearing his twenty-eighth year of service and who had no real family to speak of. The army was his life, and he seemed happy enough to have it be his death.
Within an hour of them setting out, Lucius had been captured after a brief skirmish with the Egyptians, and three of his men were dead. Quintus wasn't, though he was wounded and would likely die if a rescue party didn't come along. As always for Lucius, the most difficult part had been cutting off the slaughter in mid-flow. Feigning injury and surrendering. He was currently being dragged to the Egyptian camp, bound and 'unconscious'.
"Quickly, quickly!" someone called.
"What?"
"Hurry!"
Whoever it was sounded young. "Queen Arsinoë has ordered the execution of the pretender Achillas!"
Lucius decided to stir at this, opening his eyes and blinking in apparent confusion. His draggers made noises of relief and hauled him to his feet. "Finally! Get up, Roman! Move! Come and see what we do to those who oppose us!"
What they did, it transpired, was uncompromising. General Achillas (responsible for Pompey's death, the drawing of Caesar's ire and usurpation of the throne), was on his knees before a dais, where stood Ganymedes and Arsinoë. Despite his orders, there were far too many Egyptians for him to grab the young princess now, so Lucius settled in to watch the spectacle.
Arsinoë wore a white gown, gold bangles and arm bracelets shining on her brown skin. There was gold thread woven through her black hair too. Heavy kohl outlined her eyes, making them look like pits of contempt, deep and endlessly black. She wore an impassive expression. She was also, as he could smell, entirely human. Ganymedes cut the more striking figure, so explosive with colour were his garments, and his shaven head gleamed in the midday sun. He was the one doing the talking.
"Achillas. You are a traitor to the Upper and Lower kingdoms. You are a thief – and as punishment for the usurpation of the throne of Egypt, you will suffer the punishment of all thieves."
He gestured to the man with a double-headed axe, who stepped forward while another one hauled Achillas' bound hands forwards, onto a block. Without preamble, the axe came down, and hands were separated from body. The smell of blood leaped into the air, filling Lucius' nose. It was stronger than the other scents of the desert, drowning out the sweat, incense and the subtle perfume that Arsinoë had dabbed on her pulse points. It overwhelmed the hot dust smell of the sand and the salt tang of the sea. Achillas screamed in pain, a brief roar that seemed unwillingly ripped from him before he slammed his mouth shut. Even Lucius had to admire his resolve: he had to know he was not likely to live past the next five minutes, yet he would go to the grave with at least some of his dignity remaining.
Ganymedes was speaking again, and holding the twitching digits up, much to the approval of the watching Egyptians. "But usurpation of the throne is not merely theft. It is treason. You are an enemy of Egypt, and you shall suffer as all enemies of Egypt will suffer!"
More cheers. The soldiers who held Lucius' arms jeered at him. He tested the bindings on his wrists. Not impossible, by any means.
Ganymedes looked at Arsinoë, who nodded, and in short order, Achillas' head had been parted from his shoulders. The blood was soaked quickly into the sand, pooling only in the shelves of rock. The head was held up, shown to the crowd, and then the body was dragged away. To be dumped into the sea, Lucius imagined, unworthy of the usual Egyptian burial customs that were now all the rage.
"That's what you've got coming, Roman," one of his guards hissed.
Briefly, Lucius considered turning around and beheading him (although it wouldn't be the clean cut Achillas had been granted), but he decided against it.
The other one laughed too. "And that's if Queen Arsinoë decides to be quick about it."
Ten minutes later, he was brought before Arsinoë, and then kicked in the back of the knees. He really quite enjoyed the curses which split the air when human foot came into contact with vampiric leg. Arsinoë and Ganymedes turned to stare at the scene, abandoning their conversation.
"Is one Roman causing you a grave problem?" Arsinoë asked acidly.
"No-No, my Queen."
This time, it was the butt of a spear which delivered the blow. Still not quite enough to make him buckle, but it was that or splinter the weapon, which would hardly allow him to pass as an ordinary man. Albeit a very large, menacing one. When he was on his knees, Arsinoë and Ganymedes went back to their discussion. They were bent over a large map of Alexandria.
"They are still contained in this area of the city," Ganymedes said. "Therefore they might be besieged."
A simple, obvious ploy that Lucius couldn't help but smirk at. It would never work.
Arsinoë shook her head. "We don't have time. Once reinforcements arrive from Rome then we'll be the ones besieged. Alexandria is well supplied. In order to starve them out we would need months."
Ganymedes grimaced but suggested, "With the gods' blessing it might be-"
"The gods evidently are occupied with other matters," Arsinoë said curtly, in a manner so like Philipus that Lucius grinned briefly despite himself. She continued, "It is best if we apply our minds to the problem, rather than our prayers." A brief pause. "If they're in this section of the city …"
"Yes?"
"Flood the canals with seawater. Caesar might have enough food for his men but without drinking water they will be sundered in a matter of days."
That was unexpected. Arsinoë was the one leading the campaign? All intelligence thus far had pointed towards Ganymedes as the tactician. Presumably that was deliberate on the queen's part, which did not bode well for his chances of leaving here without bloodshed. Her idea of salinating the water was clever. And it would almost certainly work. Caesar's legions were used to the cool, wet climate of Gaul. They were already suffering in the Egyptian heat – Lucius could attest to their grumbling. Add to that a lack of water …
Ganymedes was nodding. "It will be done, my Queen. What do you wish to do with the Roman?"
She glanced at Lucius. "He might be useful. Take him away. If he looks like he's listening too hard, cut off his ears."
With Ganymedes gone to give the orders, Arsinoë was alone for the first time since she could remember. She sank into a chair with a weary sigh and briefly closed her eyes. At this point in the day she would usually be calling for her ladies to play music and bring wine. Perhaps rub her feet. But they had been left in Alexandria. She did not fear Cleopatra's retribution coming down on them; they were all too clever to attract attention from Caesar, and her sister too obsessed with Arsinoë to give a second thought to anyone else. Admittedly, it did mean that she herself was outside the city walls, the only woman for some distance, without any of her usual comforts.
Yet she was Queen. With Achillas rightfully executed, and Ptolemy imprisoned in Alexandria, she was, finally, Queen. She controlled Egypt's army, she would defeat the Romans, she would determine the destiny of her people.
There was the swish of fabric as Ganymedes came back in. "The orders are given. A channel will be dug tonight under the cover of darkness. By morning, the Romans will have nothing to drink."
"Good."
"You should take some rest, child," he said softly.
Arsinoë smiled. Ganymedes was the only real parent she had known, her tutor and mentor since the days she could barely walk. Beyond perhaps three of her ladies, he was the only person she trusted absolutely. He was also in the unique position of being relied upon. But that did mean he felt entitled to nag her. "I will," she promised.
"Sooner, rather than later."
"I will. Now sit down and eat something. We did well today."
"That we did, my Queen."
She grinned at him.
"How does it feel?"
"It will feel better when the Romans are no longer here," she said.
"With your plan, it should not be long until they are gone," he replied.
They ate, and then Arsinoë did rest through the night. Away from the claustrophobic atmosphere of the palace, the constant threat of spies and assassins and her sister's powers, her sleep was deep and peaceful. The next morning brought word that the plan to poison Caesar's water supply had been successful.
"It is a good start," she said.
"A good start?" Ganymedes laughed. "Arsinoë, without water he will surrender, he must."
She looked at him sceptically. "Caesar did not conquer Gaul by giving in at the first obstacle presented to him. Yes, he has no water in the city. So he will try to find more. Bore holes will be drilled."
"That will not be enough to keep all his men going."
"We'll see. He might have help," she added, with enough emphasis that he knew what she meant.
Cleopatra had never shown much aptitude for the control of water, true enough, but Arsinoë had learned a long time ago never to assume anything was true when her sister was involved. Even if Cleopatra could not pinpoint a good source of water, or feared to before Caesar, she might have the allegiance of others like her who could.
"You think Cleopatra is likely to …"
"I think Cleopatra is likely to do anything which benefits Cleopatra. We should wait another two days. I want hourly reports from our agents in the city on how much water the Romans have and where it is coming from. If, after that time has passed, Caesar still has insufficient water, we will act."
"Very well, my Queen. What do you wish to do about the prisoner who was taken yesterday?"
"Has he said anything?"
"Nothing."
"Find out what his name and rank is. He might at least yield a ransom."
A/N: Please review if you liked it! I will be uploading a chapter a day, as I have most of the story written already.