Every Last Kiss

Knowing me as well as he did, I didn’t fool Hasani even a little bit.He watched my nervous movements and restless stares silently, but he comfortingly rubbed small circles on my back.I knew it was in an effect to reassure me, even though he was unaware of the source of the problem.As an acrobat twisted and turned in front of us, Hasani bent his head to huskily murmur into my ear.

“My love, you are as nervous as a young doe. Are you alright?”

As he spoke, he wrapped both of his strong arms around me, clutching me to his chest from behind.I nodded and then leaned my head back against his rock-solid body.

“Yes, I’m fine, sweet,”I lied through my teeth.

“Then relax and enjoy the dancers,”he instructed calmly, knowing full well that I had lied.

I nodded, not commenting further.More than anything else, I hated lying to him.I tried to relax my body so that I folded liquidly into his chest, a feat that was increasingly difficult as my pounding heart continued to pump adrenaline through my veins.

Finally, as soon as she possibly could without drawing undue attention, Cleopatra stood from Antony’s side and excused herself early.Everyone around us looked up in surprise, since she and Antony typically stayed all evening, outlasting all of the guests.

“I’m sorry,”she apologized again.“I have a slight headache and wish to retire early.The pounding from the drums is agitating it.”

She waved away her personal physician’s offer to bring a herbal dressing to alleviate it.

“I think I will just retire early,”she reiterated firmly.“But please, everyone stay and enjoy yourselves.Charmian?”

She looked at me and I hurriedly got up to accompany her.I felt Hasani’s reluctance as he let me slip from his grasp.But he couldn’t say anything… the queen herself had summoned me in front of the entire table.

As we made our way out of the room, I turned in the doorway and glanced at Hasani. He was watching me with a troubled look on his handsome face.He knew that we were up to something. I hadn’t fooled him at all.I swallowed hard and walked from the room without another backward glance.

Once inside the privacy of Cleopatra’s chambers, I quickly began stripping off my light-colored clothes and exchanging them for a brown linen sheath from Cleopatra’s closet.

I removed the shining gold chains from my hair and replaced them into her jewelry box and she handed me a dark brown scarf to wrap around my head and shoulders.Kicking off my leather sandals, I examined myself in the mirror.

Other than my vivid green eyes, I knew I wouldn’t stand out in the darkened streets of Alexandria.I would need to keep my eyes down though.My eyes were fairly unique. I didn’t want to be recognized.

“Alright,”Cleopatra breathed as she stood in front of me. “You look like a peasant.This is good- you won’t draw attention.Now, what are you going to do when you get to the lighthouse?”

“I’m going to enter quietly through a side entrance, trying hard not to attract the attention of a harbor master.”

She nodded, interrupting.“And there should only be one in the lighthouse at night, just so that he can tend to the fire.It should be fairly easy to evade him.”

I nodded in agreement.“After I’m in, I will try to stay in the shadows as I locate Pothinus.And after that… I’ll play it by ear.”

She sighed long and loud.

“I wish I could go with you.I don’t feel right sending you alone.”She stared wistfully at the door, probably picturing the guards stationed on either side of it.They would certainly notice Queen Cleopatra sneaking out in peasant’s clothing.  

“It’s alright, Cleopatra.I’ll be fine. Iras didn’t know what we were sending her into.But I do- and I’ll be careful.”

A twinge of guilt stirred within me.Poor Iras.She’d had no idea and in hindsight, I should have given her some sort of warning about the danger.But I would do my best to make it right.

Cleopatra hugged me quickly, her musky scent enveloping us.

“Come back to me safely, Charmian,”she commanded queenly, but her warm eyes were those of a friend, not a pharaoh.

“I will, my queen,”I replied softly, stealing out of her room quietly.I definitely fully intended to, that was for sure.

    I ignored the curious stares of the guards as I made my way past them dressed in my peasant’s garb.I could feel their intense gazes burning into my back as I walked quickly down the hall.They were probably pondering what to make of it and I wondered if Cleopatra would offer them some sort of explanation.I doubted it- the queen was above questioning.She didn’t answer to anyone.

I steered clear of the hallway leading to my quarters as I made my way to the ground floor of the palace.I felt fairly confident that Hasani was waiting for me in my bedchamber.I uttered a quick prayer that I was able to return to him later tonight unscathed.If I didn’t return, he would be sure to sound the alarm.

I opted to make my way quietly through the gardens behind the palace rather than stay on the stone walkways, hoping that I would run into fewer people.Anyone I ran into while I was still on the palace grounds would be sure to wonder why a peasant girl was so close to the palace and might even call to have me removed, which would draw unwanted attention.

As I crept silently through a sculpted section of the garden, I inhaled the night breeze deeply, enjoying the fresh, clean scent.But I stopped abruptly in my tracks as I heard Antony’s loud voice.

“You little minx,”he laughed.“Get back here- I’m tired of your games.”

I peered from behind a row of tall shrubbery to find a drunken Antony pulling a servant girl to him.She twisted as she reached him, allowing herself to be crushed against his barrel-like chest.He quickly bowed his head and kissed her wildly.While their eyes were closed, I darted quickly from behind the shrubbery, disappearing into another row of small trees directly to their right.They never saw me and I continued on my way undetected.

As I descended the many steps down to the beach, I pondered Antony and Cleopatra’s complex relationship.They loved each other wildly, completely uninhibited.Yet, because of his giant appetite for women, Cleopatra willingly allowed Antony to be with servant girls at any given time.Because she knew his heart. He loved her completely.But it was behavior that no modern girl in the western world would ever stand for, including me.I remembered smashing Derek’s CDs and dumping them into the bed of his truck and smiled even now at the memory. 

As I approached the guards at the base of the staircase, they turned to me in surprise.As each of them glimpsed my eyes, I saw the flash of recognition in theirs.They uncrossed their spears and allowed me to pass, but just as the guards upstairs had stared at me, so too did these.I felt their curious gazes burn into me as I quickly made my way along the darkened beach.

I tried to breathe slowly, allowing the crash of the sea to calm me as I made my way along the beach to a pathway that led to the streets of the city.Emerging onto the city streets, I looked around me.Luckily, the streets were not overly busy tonight. Hopefully no one would recognize me.

I hurried down a main thoroughfare until I reached a cross street that led to the Heptastadion, keeping my eyes averted from anyone that I came across.As I finally stepped onto the stone causeway, I felt my pulse pick up until it was racing.I was almost there.

My trembling hand fingered the bloodstone through my tunic.Once again, I hoped that the lump of stone would work its magic and keep me safe.

Any other time, I might have found the experience of walking across the Heptastadion at night exciting.Large waves crashed against the elevated causeway, splattering me with the salty spray.The night air was chilly, so I drew the dark cloak-like scarf around me tightly as I made my quickly down the slippery stones.Several hundred feet later, I stood hesitantly at the base of the giant lighthouse, staring upward at the golden glow of its fire.

It seemed deserted—there was no one in sight, which was just fine with me. I glanced both ways and then quietly stole closer to the building, walking in the protection of shadows as I had promised.It didn’t seem to matter however, as I didn’t encounter another living soul.

When I came to a darkened doorway, I pulled it softly open, just far enough that I could slip inside.The large entry room I was standing in was dark with only a few small torches lit at widely spaced intervals.I could see well enough to see where I was going, but just barely.

I kept walking even though I didn’t see anyone, continuing into the heart of the light house’s large base.As I walked into a long hallway, I wondered if I should be trying to find a doorway that led to the bowels underneath the building.It seemed appropriate that that is where I would find Pothinus.He was a snake, so he would want to hide beneath a rock.

Even as I pondered the idea, though, I caught a glimpse of a dark figure at the end of the hallway in front of me.Pausing my footsteps, I focused in the darkness, trying to see more clearly.It was definitely a person, and the person was walking directly at me- coming more and more into focus the closer that they got to me.I could now make out that he or she was wearing long robes that were dragging on the floor.

I wondered briefly if I should hide in case it was the harbor master, but I didn’t have the time.I had clearly already been spotted.And it turned out that my fears were unnecessary in that regard anyway.The fat, fleshy folds of the eunuch Pothinus slowly came into view.I tried to still my pounding heart as he came to a stop in front of me and stared at me calmly, just as a snake might right before striking.He smelled like a hamster.

“Do you have Iras?”I questioned him coolly.He stared at me in amusement.

“Right to business, then, Charmian?”He countered.“I thought we might have aninteresting conversation first… regarding the future.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Pothinus lunged forward quickly and grabbed my arm, moving surprisingly quickly for someone of his girth, and yanked me along the hallway back into the same direction that he had come from.

“You don’t need to hold onto me.I’m coming with you willingly,”I pointed out as his fingers dug into my arm… the same arm that Tehran had bruised.I ruefully realized that it was still sore.

He glanced at me.

“Perhaps,”he conceded, withdrawing his arm. “But if you scream, I will kill Iras in front of you and then it will be your turn.”

He smiled a sadistic smile that made his neck rolls scrunch together. I took note of the rivulets of sweat that ran from his neck and dripped onto his clothing.The man was a pig.

“I’m sorry Tehran got killed,”I said cheerfully as we walked along.

With each step, his breathing became more and more labored.I realized that the exercise was difficult for him, considering his ridiculously enormous belly.I briefly wondered if being a eunuch contributed to a weight problem, before returning my attention to the matter at hand.

“No, you’re not,”he snarled, glaring at me.

“Yes, you’re right.I’m not,”I answered agreeably.I wasn’t sure why I was provoking him, but I couldn’t seem to help it.He was scum.

We had not encountered another person yet, a fact that was beginning to give me pause. He opened a doorway on the side of the hallway, which led to another steep set of stairs leading downward.I was correct.He had been hiding in the bowels of the building.