Part 8 (2/2)
There were many small details to attend to, the sort of details that one can easily mistake for true action and irasp of thes a leader 's quarters, the rounds, stood e them, but now I realized that was foolish Why not honorthere? Who eLe was entitled to do so? In the alabaster palace, on the entire upper floor, the King's apartments stretched fro across the turquoise waters of the harbor to the Lighthouse, to the southeast, looking out over the open ocean Breezes blew constantly fro the onyx floors deliciously cool, like the flavored ices we ate in su the floor as the sunthe entire apartht thethat one hated to call musicians to compete with its distinctive voice The royal apart place in the air 's quarters, the rounds, stood e them, but now I realized that was foolish Why not honorthere? Who eLe was entitled to do so? In the alabaster palace, on the entire upper floor, the King's apartments stretched fro across the turquoise waters of the harbor to the Lighthouse, to the southeast, looking out over the open ocean Breezes blew constantly fro the onyx floors deliciously cool, like the flavored ices we ate in su the floor as the sunthe entire apartht thethat one hated to call musicians to compete with its distinctive voice The royal apart place in the air
As I walked through thee forHe had beds made of ebony from Africa and inlaid with ivory from Punt; handworked metal tables from Damascus; embroidered cushi+ons fros from the far east There were painted Greek vases and candelabra of Nubian silver and water clocks fros of the Gods, done in basalt and porphyry, and fine vessels ofhis quarters was like entering a bazaar of the world, one where no ordinary merchants traded, but only artists The transparent white silkhangings billowed and flapped in the soft breeze, as if trying to shed different lights on the wares for me to appreciate thee as a normal palace audience chamber, and crammed full of robes andhow he had loved to dress for ceremonial occasions His wardrobe, however, unlike his water clocks, could not be transferred toat it, I became aware that someone else was in the roonized a familiar face: one of the servants of the inner chamber, a woman
”I did not see you,” I said ”What is your name?”
”Charmian, Your Majesty,” she said She had a very deep, husky voice ”Forgive me I did not 's wardrobe?”
”Yes An enjoyable task” She s smile I also noticed that she had a distinct Macedonian accent
”Are you Macedonian?” I asked She had the coloring for it: tawny hair and sht here to serve His Majesty after his stay in Athens” There was a discreet pause We both knehy the King had been in Athens; he was on his way to Ro deposed ”It was said that our families afre distantly related”
I liked this Char It would take a little while for ure out which ”Would you like to return to Athens, or would you prefer to stay here and serve me as wardrobe mistress?”
I was in sore need of one My childhood nurse had no knowledge of clothing, beyond knowing that milk removed scorches, and that salt should be sprinkled on red wine stains as soon as possible
She gave a wide smile ”If you would deem me worthy, I would be happy beyond measure to stay with you”
”Worthy? Anyone who could select and oversee all this this”--I gestured to the glittering piles of brocade and silks--”certainly can oversee whatever I will have But what shall be done with it all?”
”I would advise putting all this away until the day when you have a son ear the tis of this quality will not go out of style quickly” That deep, inti the of my staff I would appoint Mardian to my household as chief scribe and administrator I had seen little of him in the past year, but whenever weAnd Oly medicine at the Museion, would serve as my physician I knew I could trust hi, trained military man, to counterbalance Achillas, and I knew no one like that I had at uarded the palace grounds, but the three Roe barbarians froyptian army was under Achillas's control Even if the Macedonians proved to be coions and the native Egyptians I would have to see what fate provided for ypt had been protected by its deserts on the east and west We had lain in our Nile valley out of reach of the rest of the world But Bedouins on camels had breached our western frontiers, and arh Syria, to our eastern borders now We were part of the larger world, and what happened elsewhere affected us directly Thus the first crisis of ypt, but fros in other countries
To be brief: the Parthians (O Isis! Hoas to learn to hate that word! The Parthians have been the scourge of all my hopes!) had troubled the Roovernor there, Calpurniu Bibulus, wanted the Roe attack on the Parthians He sent his two sons to coypt The soldiers, who had settled down, did not want to leave, and so they set upon the governor's sons and, far fro them, killed them
Like foolish rebels everywhere, who do not think beyond the deed of rebellion itself, the troops were jubilant The city of Alexandria rejoiced along with them, for any defiance of Rome sent them into fits of excitement And Pothinus and his henchainst Rome! Never mind that this was the si in the royal council chaency Council filed in, pushi+ng Ptolee
”My brotherthe other royal chair Let him separate himself from them, for once! ”The rest of you, sit here” There was a bench, albeit a richly gilded one, for all of the Mardian
”You knohat I have called this council for,” I said Outside, the day was glorious, brilliant and sparkling The fleet was bobbing up and down in the harbor ”The Roovernor of Syria has had his sons murdered by the very troops they were sent to command”
”We didn't do it!” crowed Ptolemy ”It was done by Ro nod
”Is this how you advise your Prince?” I asked ”His youth excuses him, but if you truly believe that, you are a child yourself and have no business serving on any council, even one to ration donkey dung!” I watched the smile drain froypt,” said Pothinus ”They have settled here, married, have children”
”In other words, they are no longer soldiers but civilians?” I asked ”Then we shall not er serve their purpose
We hardly want more civilians We have a million in the city” I looked at all of thes clear ”The murderers must be apprehended and turned over to Bibulus”
”No!” cried Theodotos ”That is acknowledging hin states, real real ones, not pretend ones, observe civilized laws It is not a sign of weakness, but of strength, to be able to control our own people and, when ht” ones, not pretend ones, observe civilized laws It is not a sign of weakness, but of strength, to be able to control our own people and, when ht”
”The truth,” sneered Pothinus, ”is that you are afraid of the Rorade yourself”
How dare he speak thus? Degradelawless and insulting behavior,” I finally said ”I see you have scant love of your country”
”I love Egypt more than you can ever understand!” he insisted
”Then do as you are ordered,” I said ”Discover thethe them to Bibulus, letto say?”
He shook his head
”Good Then carry out my instructions, Pothinus”
The tall eunuch sat as stiff as a stone statue in a temple
After the council had departed, I found , but was it politically wise? I would alienate the Alexandrians Yet to insult the Roht or a defeat I had been caught, like a creature exposed on an open field, with no cover
Themen--were rounded up and sent to Bibulus to answer to hi in strictest legality Although his sons had been killed, he said, Rohtly a e He hieance on them
O Roman law! If ever I saw the et all about the law, except the eternal one of vengeance for a dead child--the prerogative of a o only so far, and at the crucial moment they fail us They are a poor substitute for justice The Greek Gods know more about that than the Roainst ineered it (I know this was not true, but, Isis, why did the Gods favor hi about ”the lover of the Rohter They had ousted hi before Rome, and I was the same Aith her!
It did not help that, shortly after this, the son of Poypt to request troops and provisions for the co clash with Caesar We had to yield the Ro with hundreds of soldiers Pompey and his followers had been ejected from Italy by this Caesar, who had defied the Roman Senate and acted as if he commanded his own destiny It was said he was lucky above all men; it was also said that his main weapon was speed, for he could appear at a site before his enemies realized he had even started out They said he covered a hundred like strikes
I anda, heaped on er Pompey and I became lovers on his visit to Alexandria I met him, I entertained him at banquets, and showed him the city with pride, but he never even touched my hand To do so would have violated every principle of protocol I was a virgin, and as protective of my chastity as Athena Besides, he was not very attractive!
The other thing that worked againsthe had not risen up to the level required, and so a famine was inevitable Scientists had worked out a table of the exact degree the Nile uarantee crops, and the levels below that they called ”the cubits of death” In that year, the great river's level fell within that death range
The Gods send the waters, or withhold therain from the previous season's harvest to be rationed, but what happened is what always happens: there was not enough, although profiteers so In Alexandria, the riots began In the countryside, there were threats of uprisings The farther one went up the Nile into Upper Egypt, the greater the disaffection of the people Being so distant, they had never really been welded to the Ptole to pull away
At about this time the sacred bull of Hermonthis died, and the installation of his successor was to take place This was an elaborate ceremony in which the new sacred bull must be escorted on the Nile to his holy precinct Pharaohs had taken part in the water procession in times past, but no Ptolemy had ever done so Hermonthis was one of the hotbeds of disaffection, a few ht it would be politically wise to partake of the cereues of the palace for a while, and strengthen erous area
Accordingly I set out in the royal barge I looked forward to the journey, expected to take about ten days