CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 

 

 

The palm trees in the courtyard swayed softly in the breeze as Cleopatra and I huddled together. Dressed completely in dark brown linen, we were hoping to fade into the backdrop of night as we traveled down the beach to the hidden cave. 

        “Are you all set?” she whispered anxiously, staring into my eyes.  “Do you know what to do?”

        I nodded.  I was completely terrified, but I knew what to do.  Tonight was our best chance at getting the bloodstone back from Pothinus. 

        He was still unaware that Tehran had defected to Cleopatra, so he was expecting a meeting with his loyal servant tonight.  Little did he know that I would be the one walking into that cave.  Hopefully, he would be taken enough by surprise so that I could get the upper hand.  Not likely, but it was still our hope.

        Cleopatra took me by the arm and we made our way down the two hundred steps to the water.  The breeze carried the scent of jasmine to us from the palace and I inhaled the familiar, comforting scent as we approached the guards at the bottom of the stairs. They startled, not expecting to see two cloaked figures emerge behind them.  Cleopatra lowered her hood just enough that they could see who she was. 

        “My queen,” they bowed low, lowering their spears to their sides.

        As they stood again, surprise at her appearance was evident on their faces, but we were unconcerned.  They answered to her, after all. They weren’t exactly going to question her. 

        I slid my shaking hand down to my thigh, checking for the cool metal of Cleopatra’s jeweled dagger.  It was strapped securely around my leg- right at my fingertips if I needed it.  I looked at her and she nodded, so I took a step forward.  She was going to hang back twenty paces, in case Pothinus was watching the beach. 

        Twilight glittered on the top of the Mediterranean, the reflection of the moonlight sparkling like shattered broken black glass as I made my way quietly along the abandoned beach.  Darkness shrouded everything around me, making me shiver at the things that it might be concealing.

        Everything was coming down to me now… I was the one who had to meet Pothinus, I was the one who had to somehow wrench my amulet away from him, I was the one who held the histories of the world in her arms.  I pictured my puny biceps and inwardly groaned.  This was going to be a disaster. I wasn’t capable of wrenching anything. Who was I kidding?

        The sand was wet beneath my feet as I clung to the foam lip of the sea and contemplated the heavy weight on my shoulders.   All along the shoreline, the tide was bringing in driftwood and strings of seaweed which littered the beach in wet clumps.  I stepped gingerly over the debris as I made my way silently toward the cave. 

        Away from the light of the torches that lined the palace’s courtyard, the night was so dark that when I glanced behind me, I almost missed seeing Cleopatra.  Only her head was visible, bobbing along in the night.  Her face was completely concealed by her cloak.  I swallowed hard and continued walking, searching the rocks for the opening of the cave.  And I almost missed it. 

        The opening yawned blacker than the night, signaling the deep abyss that it contained.  Apprehension built in my chest and it grew until I could barely breathe. As I walked the few remaining steps to the mouth of the cave, I concentrated on taking small, short breaths.  The last thing I needed was to hyperventilate on the shore.  It would be a dead giveaway to Pothinus that I wasn’t Tehran. 

        I paused outside of the cave for a brief moment, trying to get a hold of myself and to slow my racing heart.  My birthmark was silent, not a single throb of pain came from it…a good sign. 

        The sea beat relentlessly against the coast and I tried to concentrate on the rhythmic crashing to calm myself.  I knew that Cleopatra was waiting in the darkness and was probably wondering what the heck I was doing.  I took one last deep breath and stepped inside.  

        Without the light from the moon, the cave was even blacker than the beach.  I waited for a moment so that my eyes could adjust, but after a few minutes longer, I still couldn’t see a thing. 

        A deep voice echoed from within, from somewhere hidden in the shadows. 

        “You are late.  You know I hate it when you are late!” Pothinus rasped.

        Panic began to overwhelm me. How could I do anything at all if I couldn’t even see him?  I scanned the darkness, trying to make sense out of any of the shadowy shapes, but it was simply too dark.  It was impossible. There was no way I would have a chance at getting the upper hand.  I was surrounded with utter blackness.  

        And then a miracle. 

        Pothinus lit a torch and stepped into the light.  I could scarcely believe my good fortune.  But my good fortune slipped away with every step that

      Pothinus took, because each step was bringing him closer to the moment that he realized who I was. 

        Another heavy step.  Then another and another.  And then one more. 

        He stood three steps away and from inside my hood, I could hear his heavy breathing, as though the simple act of walking was laborious for him. And it probably was.  The man was morbidly obese.  Sweat glistened on his forehead, the orange glow of the torch reflecting off of his pasty skin.  I silently made a face.  Once again, he smelled like a hamster. Clearly, he had an aversion to bathing.

        “Well?” he thundered.  “Do you have anything to report or have I ventured out in the night for nothing?”

        The moment of truth.

        I only had one chance to make this work. The second I spoke, he would know who I was.  My heart thudded heavily into my cloak.  I scanned his body in search of the bloodstone, but didn’t see it. 

        I would have to assume that it was hidden safely under the folds of his own cloak.  Tehran had told Cleopatra this evening that Pothinus never took it off- that he wore it on a chain around his neck constantly.  It felt strange to trust Tehran, but his word was all we had.

        I reached up a shaking hand and pulled off my hood.  The light from Pothinus’ torch bathed the side of my face in its golden glow.  I tentatively shifted my gaze to his face, where his complete shock hung like an unfinished sentence. 

        Taking advantage of his surprise, I hurled myself into him with all of my strength.  Hitting his weight was like running into a brick wall, but I somehow managed to knock him off-balance. As he stumbled backward, I groped at his chest, trying to feel my pendant through his heavy shift.  My fingers had just grazed the hard edge of the gold when he wrenched me away.

        “You little bitch!” he gasped as he yanked my head back by my hair. 

        White hot pain shot into me, spreading down into my neck and shoulders.  The pain was so intense that it took my breath away.  I fought to breathe as I wildly struggled against him, but my hands couldn’t grasp him.  He was a mountain of fat. 

        Holding both of my wrists in one of his, he leaned his putrid face close to mine as I panted with exertion. 

        “What did you think you were going to do, Charmian?”  He glanced behind me.  “You thought you could come here alone and be a hero for your queen, for the Order?” He laughed in derision, the sound a vicious echo in the blackness of the cave.

        “You’re a fool,” he snarled, throwing me easily to the floor.  I hit hard, my hands scraping the stone. “All you’ve done is make things easier for me… by delivering yourself to me on a platter!”

        I felt my hands begin to bleed and I shook my head to clear it. I scrambled awkwardly up and glared at the eunuch, wiping my hands on my cloak.  He stared back with beady, hostile eyes. 

        “Pothinus, this needs to end.  Long ago, events unfolded the way they were meant to unfold.  And you will be unable to use my bloodstone to change anything.  It won’t work for you. I would have thought that Annen would have told you that.” 

        He laughed again, a maniacal, unbalanced sound.  “And where is Annen now?  Oh, that’s right.  He’s dead.  I killed him.  His opinion is no longer important.”

        It was clear that Pothinus had lost it.  He was a crazy person.  His beady black eyes were cold and flat, as though I was looking into the eyes of a shark.  It gave me shivers.

        “Annen knew what he was speaking of, Pothinus.  My bloodstone is tied to me and I will not help you.  We cannot change the face of time.  We cannot.   Even if you tried, I am guessing that you would not like the outcome- because it would surely come with consequences.”

        I tried to keep my voice calm and logical, as though I was simply trying to hash out a problem with a friend.  It was unbelievably difficult to keep the acid out of my voice. 

        “Annen simply didn’t want anyone to have the power.  That is all, you foolish twit.  He cared nothing about protecting history or time.  He just wanted the power.”

        I stared at him in amazement. 

        “Are you insane?  If he only wanted the power, he would have kept it.  But he returned the bloodstone to me… its rightful owner.” 

        I studied the eunuch’s face.  He was not convinced. His expression was still superior, as though I was a foolish child and he was the all-knowing adult.

        “I’m not going to waste any more time on you.” He spit at me.  “Until you agree to help me, I will kill those close to you, one by one.  And I will save you for last, dear Charmian.”

        I wanted to smile in his self-important face, but I didn’t want to reveal anything.  I was accustomed to death.  He didn’t frighten me. 

        Clearly, he was not worried about any threat that I might pose.  He believed that I was here alone- and I was just a helpless woman. 

        I was suddenly thankful for the kickboxing lessons that I had taken with my mother last year, as a plan hatched quickly in my mind.  Without even waiting to cement it, I whirled, swinging my leg around in a full-force roundhouse kick to his abdomen.  His mouth dropped open in a comical O when I made contact.

        My bare foot disappeared into the folds of his gelatinous stomach, before I quickly yanked it back out.  Clearly, kicking his fat wasn’t going to be effective- he didn’t even feel it, although it did serve to catch him by surprise.  As a eunuch, he didn’t have any balls for me to kick, although I desperately wished that wasn’t the case.  That would be oh-so-satisfying.  My options, it seemed, were limited.

        Before he could grab my leg with his ham-fists, I bent my knee and kicked him in the side of the head.  The impact spun his face around, a mouthful of saliva flying out and splattering the stone wall of the cave.  I grinned triumphantly at him.  Who knew I could be such a bad-ass?

        Taking advantage of the moment, I garnered all of my strength and charged at him.  He toppled over onto his hands and knees, his red face wheezing as he tried to inhale.  As he fell heavily to the ground with the torch, my bloodstone tumbled out of his cloak.  Twisting gently as it dangled from his neck, it glittered in the fire light. 

        Lunging forward, I yanked it with every ounce of strength that I had left.  The thin chain snapped and all at once, it was in my hand.  I closed my fingers firmly around the cool gold and immediately felt a rush of comfort. It was back where it belonged. 

        Eyeing Pothinus as he lumbered to his feet, I tried to decide what to do.  He was heavier and slower, so I could definitely out run him, but he was situated between me and the mouth of the cave.  Like a wall made from cellulite, he blocked my escape- and from his devious bloody smile, I could tell that he knew it.

        Wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his arm, he spit onto the ground, stringy rust colored mucus hanging from his lips. 

        “Hmm. Maybe you’re not so foolish, servant girl,” he taunted, limping closer.  “But you still aren’t as smart as you think.  There’s no way out for you. You’re going to have to get past me- and trust me, that’s not going to happen.”

        I knew that he was right and I frantically looked around me, trying to remember from my childhood days if there was another exit.  I quickly recalled that there was not.  I was trapped with this overstuffed whale.

        And then, as if from a dream, Hasani’s clear voice came from the darkness.

        “I don’t know who you are or what game you are playing, but if you lay another hand on my future wife, I will cut your throat.”

        He stepped into the light from the torch, his beautiful face as menacing as I’d ever seen it. His bronzed skin glistened in the light as he stepped even closer.  I could see the disbelief flicker across his face as he registered that he was standing with a dead man, before he quickly masked his surprise.  He was a warrior through and through, a fact that I sometimes forgot since he was so gentle when he was with me. 

        He held his sword in both hands, circling around Pothinus as though he was a hunter and Pothinus was his next meal.  A movement behind him caught my attention and I glanced up to find Cleopatra’s pale face in the shadows. 

        “My queen,” I frowned.  “You weren’t supposed to come in.  It’s too dangerous for you.”

        She sniffed disdainfully.  “The only danger here is asphyxiation from this animal’s foul smell.”

        I grinned in agreement.  She couldn’t be more right.

        Gazing at Hasani’s face which was still set in a deadly expression, I asked, “How did you find me, Hasani?  How did you know that I needed you?”

        He glanced at me briefly before returning his watchful gaze to the eunuch.  “Olympus wanted me to locate Cleopatra.  Iras’ fever has broken.  She is going to be alright.  He thought  her majesty would want to know immediately.”

        Relief flooded through me so quickly that my knees went weak.  “Thank God,” I whispered.  Cleopatra’s face mirrored the relief found on my own.

        “I searched everywhere for you and couldn’t find you.  As a last ditch effort, I decided to try the beach, even though I specifically told you not to come out on the beach now,” he glanced at me reprovingly.  “The guards told me that they saw you both sneaking out in dark cloaks.  Obviously, by that point, I knew something was wrong.”

        I looked sheepishly at my feet. 

        “You said not to come out alone,” I clarified.  “I wasn’t.  Alone.”

        The glare he shot me was sharp and I averted my gaze. 

        “I’m sorry, Hasani,” I mumbled in a rush.  “I wish I could explain, but it is so complicated.  And …”

        “And it is best that you not know,” Cleopatra interrupted smoothly.  “I’m sorry, Hasani.  At my orders, Charmian has concealed dangerous secrets from you.  It was for your own good- the more people that knew, the riskier the whole thing would become.  For Charmian and for me.” 

        I shot her a grateful look. 

        Hasani knew that he could not argue with the queen.  But from the harsh set to his jaw, I knew that I hadn’t heard the last of this.  He glared at me over the silver metal of his sword.

        “Don’t you realize that you could’ve been killed?  If I lost you, I don’t know what I would…” his voice trailed off and I remembered. 

        Warriors never, ever cried.  He had told me that once with a confident smile.  But as I gazed at him now, I saw wetness glistening in the corner of his eye.  Pain stabbed my heart like a knife.  The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him.

        “I’m sorry, Hasani,” I whispered softly, as I dabbed at it with my bare fingers.  He nodded wordlessly, but his expression had softened.

        And just as quickly hardened into a lethal mask as he lunged in front of me, shoving me to the ground behind him.  I stared up at him in bewilderment and then in realization as Pothinus stepped away from him, a triumphant grin on his putrid face.  He held a dagger in his hand, dripping with blood.  Hasani’s blood.  

        I gasped. 

        Hasani lifted his hands from  the wound in his side and blood streamed in rivulets.  There was so much blood.  Too much.  He crumpled to the ground and I dropped to my knees at his side.

        “Hold your hands tight right here,” I commanded him, yanking off my cloak to staunch the blood. His eyes sought mine, and I noticed that the shine in his had dimmed.  A lump formed in my throat.   

        “I’m sorry, Charmian.  I was distracted and I didn’t see him…”

        “Shh, save your strength.”  I brushed my lips across his brow.  “I distracted you. I’m the one who should be apologizing.  You saved my life, Hasani.”

        From my periphery, I saw Pothinus take a step toward me and I grabbed Hasani’s sword, jumping up to brandish it at him.

        “Take one more step and I swear to every god you hold holy that I will slice your head off.  My sword is longer than your dagger and I’m very, very tired of you.”

        My threat was sincere.  I had never in my life hurt another living being, but I would kill this man without so much as a blink.  I tightened my grip on the handle.

        “But if you kill me, Charmian, Hasani will bleed to death right here at your feet. He will die in your place. Do you want that?”

        Pothinus’ voice was matter-of-fact.  To my left, I felt Cleopatra attend to Hasani.  She murmured comforting words to him and I felt an overwhelming sense of panic.

        He would bleed to death.  The eunuch was right.  Hasani would die because he saved my life. My mouth went dry as I frantically tried to decide what to do. I couldn’t let him die.  I couldn’t.

        “Give me back the bloodstone, Charmian.  I’ll show you how to heal him.  You know he wasn’t meant to die by my hand.”

        Pothinus eyed me calmly, keeping his voice soft and reassuring.  I faltered.

        “Charmian,” Cleopatra began gently, “Think about this. Don’t do something foolish. We are all going to die soon anyway.”

        Hasani coughed and I could hear the blood in his mouth.  Visions of his real death- the one planned for him at the end of a Roman sword assailed me.  And I squeezed my eyes shut.  It felt like someone was holding my heart in a vice-grip. The pain was excruciating.

        “Don’t bow to him, Charmian,” Hasani choked.  “Whatever this is about… don’t do it.  Not for me.”

        Oh god. Pain wracked me and the room spun for a moment. 

        Hasani didn’t even know what was at stake here.  He didn’t know my secrets… but he trusted me anyway. He loved me that much….enough to die in my place.  My resolve strengthened and I stiffened my spine.

        I didn’t need the eunuch. I could feel power coursing through my veins, building and pulsing with each beat of my heart. It was there for the taking.  I just needed to harness it.  I needed to follow my instincts.

        “Do it,” Ahmose whispered in a hiss.  I glanced up in surprise, to find him standing behind Pothinus.  “You know what to do, Charmian.  Do it.”  

        He shifted his piercing stare toward the eunuch and as I watched in amazement, Pothinus flew against the stone wall of the cave and hung there squirming.  Ahmose ignored his angry howls as he kept his gaze locked on him, holding him tightly to the wall. 

        “Do it,” he hissed again.

        I nodded and dropped to Hasani’s side. 

        Please, please god give me the strength. Please.

        I clasped the bloodstone in my hands and pressed against Hasani’s wound with all of my strength.  His warm blood gushed over and around my hands, something that I tried to ignore.  Instead, I focused on the power pulsing through me, focused on the way it was trying to escape from my body as it writhed and burned and moved…and I focused on channeling it into Hasani.

        I watched Hasani’s eyes flutter closed.  

        “I love you, Charmian,” he murmured weakly, before his chest trembled to a stop.

        I screamed, a wretched, debilitating sound and collapsed on top of him, keeping the bloodstone pressed between us.

        “Please, Hasani.  Open your eyes.  Stay with me,” I begged, my lips brushing against the soft moistness of his neck, right where his pulse should beat. I could taste the dried ocean spray on his skin, but could not feel the beat of his heart.   I closed my eyes and cried.       

        Insane with grief, I wept as sadness and despair overwhelmed me and combined with the churning power of the bloodstone. Suddenly, my body could no longer contain it.

        Light from my fingertips exploded into the cave as the walls began to shake and crumble.  I physically felt energy from within me transfer to Hasani’s still body and I opened my eyes wide, focusing harder on his beautiful face. 

        “Please, please, please…”I begged in a whisper.

        The powerful, raging energy drained from me and I felt weaker and weaker, but I still kept the strange portal between us open.  I wasn’t sure how I was doing it, but I knew that if I stopped concentrating for even one second, it would be over… and it wouldn’t be enough.  I couldn’t stop until Hasani’s eyes opened. 

        And then suddenly they did. 

        His dark eyes opened in confusion, glinting in the darkness.

        “Charmian…” he whispered, lifting his hand to my face. 

        The room began swirling and I dropped my head to his chest as everything went black.

        I felt detached from my body and I could hear muted voices… Ahmose, Annen, Lachesis…. But I was unable to open my eyes.  Weakness had overtaken me so completely that I just wasn’t strong enough. The voices melted together and it was difficult to tell who was saying what.

        “Take her back to the palace,” Lachesis implored.

        “What about the queen?”Ahmose asked hurriedly.

        “Take her as well… and Hasani.”

        “The Keres will not tolerate this, Lachesis...”  Was that Annen? Who were the Keres?

        “Dim her memories,”Ahmose suggested.

        “Yes,” Lachesis agreed. 

        I felt my consciousness slip further and further away from me, as though someone had reached in and grabbed it.  I tried to hold onto it.  But it was no use.  My mind was already losing the details of what had just happened. 

        “I will try again and next time I will not fail.”  Annen?

        Then everything was quiet and I succumbed to the blackness.