Chapter Four

If he expected Arsinoë to grow nervous the closer the got to the Roman-occupied part of the city, he was disappointed. If anything she seemed to calm down, her heartbeat settling and her breathing steady. When they arrived at the stables, she even extended her hand to him. He took it in an automatic gesture as she stepped down.

She stopped, looking surprised that he had. She did not say anything though, merely gave him a questioning, puzzled glance. He had no idea what about a normal gesture was odd given she had accepted the rest of his conduct thus far without raising an eyebrow.

"You should tie my hands," she said. "I am a prisoner, after all." He took the bridle from one of the horses and looped it loosely around her wrists. "Don't be ridiculous, Roman, it has to look real."

He yanked it harder, and she gasped in response. "Better?" he asked.

"I supposed I asked for that," she muttered.

Dragging her into the palace was an interesting experience - despite her official position as an enemy of Rome and of the rightful queen of Egypt, Arsinoë still commanded the respect of everyone they passed. Certainly the slaves and servants physically prostrated themselves onto the floor as they passed. The Romans stared and the Egyptians murmured shock and horror at each other. It was apparent that even a rebel princess was still a princess, and still a figure worthy of devotion whatever happened.

Lucius' swift pace was not only because of the feeling that at any moment an escape attempt might begin, but also because of what Arsinoë had said. He had certainly been gone long enough for Cleopatra to seduce Caesar with witchcraft. Sure enough, when he entered the audience chamber with his prisoner, the two of them reeked of each other's scent. Caesar was not the same dull-eyed, insensible figure the other enthralled guards had been, but there could be no mistaking what had happened. At least it seemed to be lacking the hallmarks of magic.

Beside him, Arsinoë was calm and steady, her face set into an impassive mask. Caesar stepped forwards and gestured for her bindings to be removed. "Princess Arsinoë. Welcome back to Alexandria." He transferred his attention to Lucius. "Well done, Tribunus. You have my thanks twice over - for this and for saving my life."

"I would not have killed you, Caesar," Arsinoë said. "You have proven an honourable adversary." She put the faintest stress on the word 'you'.

"As have you, Princess. Even so, I would have found capture and imprisonment inconvenient. Where is Ganymedes?"

"Dead," Lucius replied simply. "The Egyptians killed him."

"Indeed? Strange, considering it was his plan which handed you victory, Princess."

"I cannot explain their actions to you, Caesar. As you say, my victory was complete."

"How dare you?" Cleopatra spoke up suddenly. She shot to her feet and went towards Arsinoë, who shifted slightly to better absorb the blow that was not slow in coming. The smack echoed from the white limestone pillars. "How dare you rebel against me? Against the orders and edicts of Rome?"

Arsinoë looked forwards again. There was a red mark on her cheek, but no tears and no other sign that she might be in pain. "I dared, because Egypt needs a ruler capable of ruling it. I dared because the gods willed me and because I refuse to see our nation become yet another vassal of Rome!" She looked at Caesar. "And now I surrender, Caesar, because I have failed. The only term of my surrender is that you release Ptolemy."

Caesar looked surprised. "You attempt to negotiate while you are already a prisoner?"

"You must know I have agents enough in the city to make life very difficult for an occupying force. I do not have to use them to such purpose."

Caesar's eyes met Lucius', who nodded. He had no trouble believing that much. "I will consider it."

"Consider it swiftly. If Ptolemy is not freed by evening tomorrow, events will overtake both of us."

Caesar repeated, "I will consider your request." Lucius raised an eyebrow. It had hardly been anything as polite as a request. "Tribunus Monsafi will escort you to your chambers. Nothing has been altered since your departure from the city. You will, naturally, be guarded, and all visitors to you will be thoroughly searched."

Arsinoë had nothing else to say, either to Caesar or to Lucius. He was joined in his escort by four other Roman guards, in full battle dress. He was strangely glad that Caesar recognised how dangerous Arsinoë was. Too dangerous, certainly, to be allowed even the smallest degree of freedom.

Arsinoë was heart-sore and more tired than she could have believed when she was delivered to her chambers. Her ladies - Sabra, Meysene and Gala, were both relieved and stricken to see her. There were tears and hugs on their part, but Arsinoë held back her own tears. She was expecting a final visitor - and she would rather tear her own arm off than allow her to see her cry.

"My queen, what is to be done now?" Gala asked. "What plan is to be enacted to enable you to escape?"

"None. I surrendered freely."

They sat back, silenced.

"Caesar will free King Ptolemy, and the fate of Egypt will rest in his hands."

"But ..."

"No. Ganymedes is -" She swallowed hard at the wave of nausea which accompanied the memory. Two soldiers, neither of whom were under any enchantment, had simply grabbed and slaughtered her mentor before her eyes. They had paid dearly for it, but still. In that moment Arsinoë had lost the only real parent she had ever had. "Ganymedes is dead," she managed. "My own men killed him before my eyes."

"Oh … Oh, I am sorry–"

"I wish for none of your sympathy!" Arsinoë spat harshly. She rose to her feet and hissed, "Do not follow me!"

Once seated on her bed, enshrouded in sheer curtains, her self-control waged a fierce battle with her grief before winning. Still, she only just managed to straighten her back and raise her chin before her visitor arrived. Arsinoë had ordered her ladies to confine themselves to another room for their own safety. The wall at the back of her bedchamber was entirely solid; she knew it was, having tried many times to find a door, a lever or any kind of mechanism which might reveal a hidden passageway. Nonetheless, when Cleopatra appeared, it was through such a passageway.

"Congratulations, sister," Arsinoë said, as soon as the breeze blew, innocuous, over the back of her neck, "you've finally found a man you haven't needed to drug with magic. He really does seem to find you desirable."

"And you have finally been brought to heel," Cleopatra said. She flexed her hand, and Arsinoë felt a pressure encircle her throat.

"Caesar won't like it if you kill me."

"Or else you would not still live," Cleopatra said. "Besides it may not be necessary. Soon you will no longer be a threat."

Arsinoë stared at her sister. "You've seen something."

Cleopatra smoothed a hand over her flat abdomen. "I will bear his son."

"So you get your own Pharaoh, and Rome– What are you imagining, an Emperor?"

Cleopatra looked smug. "I've no need to imagine."

"You cannot even control Egypt, never mind the entirety of Rome!"

"As opposed to you, who cannot even control her own men."

"And you had nothing to do with that."

Cleopatra paced a little, then suddenly stopped and spun around to face Arsinoë with a grin. "That is why you surrendered! It's nothing to do with the might of Rome or Ganymedes' death – you are punishing your men for lack of fealty to you. That is why you pushed for Ptolemy's release. You know any resistance will crumble under his leadership. The men who failed you will be killed, and thus punished." She laughed loudly and shrilly. "I am almost proud of you, little sister."

Arsinoë looked bored, hiding that at least one of Cleopatra's barbs had found its mark. "Is there actually a point to your presence?"

"I wanted to know why you surrendered. Now I know. You really are pathetic. You'll sacrifice yourself on the altar of Caesar's glory to teach a ragtag band of peasants a lesson." The pressure around her neck increased a little. "Do you feel that? That's how you'll die, you know."

The phantom grip grew tighter still, and Arsinoë grabbed handfuls of her bedclothes to keep from clawing at a hand that wasn't there. Cleopatra's gaze sparkled with malice. She strangled Arsinoë until the younger woman was totally unable to breathe, before she let her go.

"Enjoy it, sister." She went back into the wall, leaving Arsinoë gasping for air and with a creeping voice in her head. And do remember to enjoy the time you have left.

The next eight months were, for Lucius, intensely boring. There were occasional diversions (a few poisoning attempts, a couple of would-be assassins as well as a few fires as Cleopatra's pregnancy played havoc with her magic), but nothing that was more than a temporary amusement. On the whole, Egypt had become exceedingly dull. There were a few skirmishes with the Egyptian army, but without Arsinoë's tactical genius driving them, they never presented enough of a challenge to be called battles. No prolonged slaughter, no drawn out dance of violence, meant that he was never tested. It all added up to a very dissatisfied vampire. Still, there was always wine. And Alexandria was not short of women who could see the advantages of a closer relationship with a high-ranking Roman. But again: temporary diversions.

The only interesting thing in the whole situation was watching Arsinoë. Despite the surrender being her idea, and her status as a definite prisoner, Arsinoë was far from relinquishing her power or influence. Overtly, she was a model captive: polite, dignified and unresistant. She played the role so well that, after a month, Caesar's fears of another escape had dimmed to nothing. Even Cleopatra's sense of glee and triumph (and her need to gloat) had merely served Arsinoë in that she no longer viewed her younger sister as any kind of threat at all. Lucius, longer-sighted than both humans and witches, did not look away. Far from losing his interest, Arsinoë had only attracted it further. If any human had ever reminded him of a spider, she did. In mentality, at least. She sat at the centre of a web of people, feeding from the information provided to her by spies, by enemies, by servants and guards. Whereas Cleopatra preferred her servants to be stupid, thus allowing her own intellect to shine, Arsinoë's ladies were no fools. They had obviously been carefully trained as spies, and were the conduits from whom Arsinoë derived all her secrets. Within three months of her capture, the imprisoned Queen had tendrils of a web which stretched throughout every corner of Alexandria. Blackmail and seduction were only the bluntest of her tools. Most of her agents were unaware they were her agents.

Some secrets were cashed in right away, to improve her position. She lived in almost as much luxury as Cleopatra did. She had access to military reports both Egyptian and Roman, saw language tutors and foreign dignitaries from Judea and Nubia. She practiced with weapons (and he'd still not been able to determine how she had smuggled them in) in self-defence. If Caesar or Cleopatra's lackeys happened to be near, she wove cloth and cooed at her pet birds, or had her musicians play so she might dance.

When she requested to be escorted to the temple, Lucius volunteered to be her guard. Once there, she cleansed her hands and feet and was greeted by the High Priest. Their words were innocuous.

"Princess. Welcome home to Alexandria."

"Thank you. It is good to be here on so auspicious a day as the feast of Set. Have you distributed the grain to the people?"

"Alas, princess, I think you are mistaken – the feast of Set is not for some time. It may be many weeks before the harvest is ready."

"What a shame."

There was a sudden clatter and a babble of angry voices as one of Arsinoë's servants knocked over the bowl of cleansing water. It cascaded down the temple steps and washed a cold wave over the sandals of two Roman guards.

"Oh! A thousand apologies, really I am so clumsy, how can I–"

The guards' initial anger quickly gave way against the flirtatious smiles and wide eyes of the women, and within a moment or two all annoyance was forgotten. It had been a distraction for something – but what? He watched Arsinoë closely in their remaining time at the temple. She and the High Priest did not speak to one another other than what he had heard outside. She did not touch anything beyond some incense. No one approached her to give her anything, contraband, information or otherwise. He noted which gods she prayed to.

Isis, from whom she claimed ancestry; Ma'at, goddess of justice and truth; Set, who ruled over chaos; Thoth, associated with knowledge and wisdom as well as the gathering of intelligence; and Sekhmet. Arsinoë's methods, followed by her goal? Sekhmet wore the head of a lioness, and watched over war, fire and revenge.

It was only as they returned to the palace and the bright gleaming of Arsinoë's ornaments no longer reflected the sun that Lucius spotted what was missing. On leaving the palace, she had worn two arm bracelets. Now only one remained.

He decided to test her. "Well played," he said to her as they moved towards her quarters. "I did not see you hand it over at all."

She looked up at him sharply, but there was more mischief than alarm in her dark eyes. "I have no idea what you mean."

"I merely offer congratulations to a skilled opponent."

"Are we opponents? I have surrendered my life into Rome's hands."

"Is that so."

"If you believe otherwise, and choose to see something in nothing –"

"There is definitely something. I think you agree?"

She stopped and faced him fully. The same current flowed between them as he had felt in the Egyptian camp. It felt like they were alone. "You should take it as a lesson then," she said.

"Not taking my eyes from you will be an easy lesson to learn."

"Then you must grant me a request too," she said, walking again.

"And what is that?"

"Look at me from the front," she replied, "so that I might enjoy what I see.