The Last Ptolemy, Part III of XII

Smoke spiraled languidly from the bowl. Dried petals curled inwards, cinched red and orange, as they slowly undressed. The colors burn like embers beneath a lover's touch.

"I made for tonight. It's sweet rose from the garden. I call it desire."

They stood before each other in their thin wraps now. Caesar reached up to take the jewel-encrusted cobra diadem off her head. It sat on the table next to them. Fingers brushed at her bare shoulders. Cleopatra turned her head towards his hand, pressing her flushed cheek against his cool fingers.

Fingers slowly traced the edges where flesh met fabric. Hands that had traced every inch of her body a thousand times over.

"Gaius, you still look so hungry." Through thick lashes, she felt his gaze as she held out her neck. It was decorated still with swoops of gold. Her chin mirrored the edges of her lips as they curled upward.

Soft kisses of pink lips pressed to her neck.

"I want you. All of you."

"On your knees, Gaius."

In the corner of the room was a heaping of pillows and throws. There now, in the deep, rich colors Gaius sank on his knees. He kissed the curly mound between Cleopatra's legs, nudging his nose in for the sweet scent of her.

Bowing her head reverently, she pushed her hips forwards to lean into him.

She began sinking to meet him on the floor. Legs wrapped around his torso as he moved back to have her in his lap.

Her long fingers spread against the wall as Caesar held her. She could feel his wide, warm hands placed on her lower waist. They felt strong and sturdy and warm.

Cleopatra cupped her hands around the back of his neck and breathed him in. His eyes had flecks of green in them. Dark eyes, the color of Nile River mud, stared back. Dried rose petals and incense filled the space between them.

When he went to bite at her ear, her eyes started rolling towards the back in her head. Pressing and holding her flesh between his teeth, he was a lion and her equal.

She pressed her hips further into him and paused. Her toes buzzed alive with swarming heat. The deep color of plums swelled as her pussy grew wet and wanting. Pink and purple edges of desire ripe for the picking.

Gliding over his cock, the part of her that screamed the most in yearning yielded temporarily. She kept the rhythm until the need to fill herself overcame her. With one motion she let him slip inside her.

Rhythmic gyrations continued. Moving her hips in large circles and rocking back and forth, she could feel the pulse of his cock inside of her.

Their eyes locked.

Cleopatra paused, taking in this moment between them. Her entire body was buzzing from the wine and the pressure of his thumb above where she swallowed him.

"Don't stop, you feel so good" Caesar pleaded. He let out raspy breaths.

"Don't come yet."

Beyond the chamber, with the balcony in open air, their screams could be heard for many rooms away.

Suddenly, when it washed over her, Cleopatra could no longer let out any noise. Fluttering eyelids and the arches of her feet sucked up all the energy she'd expel through her voice. They started throbbing with the pulses she felt wrapped around Ceasar's cock.

Muscles spasmed so deep inside of her, she could feel her eyes on the same line that ran through her entire body. From her eyes to her pussy, and all the way down to her toes. The rise and swell of her body was an ocean wave beating against the shores of her thighs. She sent a little prayer to Isis.

Isis, thank you for this power and in turn to worship you.

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Weeks later, they landed back to the seaside of Alexandria. Cleopatra had missed the open expanse of the salty waters and the sights of a big city. For all her running around in irrigation and channels, this was where she felt most challenged. And she loved a challenge.

In the library, Cleopatra found herself chatting with her companions. Only one of them had accompanied her on the journey, and there was much to discuss. She had received reports regularly while she was away. Now, at last, was the time for gossip.

"Are Roman men really as hairy as people say?" one of them asked.

"Yes." Cleopatra paused, then added, "And they like their women with a little meat on their bones."

She reached over and gave her friend a playful squeeze at the breast.

A haughty laugh reverberated around the table. The high ceilings of the library seemed to give their laughter room to rise, carrying their imaginations with it as they considered the men scattered throughout the city.

"I'm starving," Cleopatra said. "I'm going to the market for something to eat. Will you come with me?"

Her friend glanced at her, still recovering from the teasing.

"Yes. And the rest?"

"They can keep our place."

They left the others to their conversation.

Outside, in the street behind the library, the two women paused in the shade and caught their breath.

"So," her companion said, "how was Caesar the other night?"

"Gaius?" Cleopatra smiled. "It was a pleasant evening. He only cried once."

She winked.

Her companion's eyebrows rose, but Cleopatra laughed before she could ask.

"Truly, it was beautiful. I put some of my powder around his eyes. He looked almost regal. He even let me brush his hair."

"And you?"

"I enjoyed myself."

The cat had wandered over while Caesar rested and licked some of the balm from his face. Cleopatra remembered the absurdity of it now and smiled.

"Even the cat approved."

A small smile spread across the face of the woman she had known since childhood.

Her companion stepped closer and drew her in. Her fingers cupped Cleopatra's face as they searched each other's eyes for something deeper than amusement.

"This is a great moment for Egypt," she said softly. "And you have persuaded the very man who might fight for it." She pressed a kiss to Cleopatra's forehead.

Cleopatra wrapped her hands around her companion's arms and leaned into the affection, drawing a slow breath.

"There is still much to do. I fear it is only the beginning. I hold sway over Ptolemy for the moment, but my sister still does as she pleases."

"Your father wanted this for you, Pharaoh. You are the queen of Egypt. You will be the last, or Egypt will see you die trying."

Her arm swept outward, across the streets of the city and toward the ocean beyond.

"Perhaps this truly is only the beginning."

They held each other for another moment. The early-afternoon heat was softened by the long slants of shade between the buildings. The familiar scent of their clothes and hair mingled in the warm air.

A memory flashed to her at these words. The familiar smell.

One of the first things she had done upon her arrival back to the North was to visit her last surviving brother. The Ptolemies were known for their twisted conspiring and feuds between siblings. This was no different.

Cleopatra had sat on the edge of his bed. The morning sun rising high in the sky already as he lay sleeping.

"Good morning, brother. There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh, Cleopatra, good morning," he stretched out with a yawn. "Tell me some good news. I've only been hearing awful things from my advisor. How was the country? Did you bring me back a surprise?"

"Yes, in fact I did. This comes from a fish market east of the Nile."

She set down a box at the edge of the bed. It was ornately carved with red alder and dark walnut. A mosaic of wood.

"To store all your secrets" she continued, "it's a puzzle box. You'll need to figure out how to open it."

A few heavy-lidded blinks towards the box set in his hands. He examined the intricacies. "It comes with a key?" There was brass keyhole on the front of the box.

"Where's the key?"

"That's part of the puzzle, Ptolemy. You already have everything you need to open the box."

His eyes stared at her lips. Cleopatra lowered her gaze to the bed sheet between them. Had he gotten her a gift for her victory against their brother?

Suddenly, he leaned forward and made sweeping motions at her breasts through her dress. Her nipples became instantly erect.

Mouth crashed into mouth like they had on their marriage night. She used to dream of her brothers in this way at night.

Cleopatra grabbed his arm and took the box back. Her brother's skin was smooth and clammy like the young soldiers who first arrived for training. His skin was lighter than hers. It never turned any tanner as he spent his days idling about, talking to advisors and politicians.

"That," she warned "is a dangerous game." She placed the box on the floor and let her dress slacken on her shoulders. He grabbed greedily at her nipples.

Ptolemy pawed open-mouthed down her front until he landed on the warm spot between her. She could feel how wet she had gotten just from this short interaction.

She grabbed his hand and guided it to her slit. His nimble fingers glazed over her lips in eager and novice fashion.

Cleopatra sucked in air, cold between her teeth. Her hand held his as she reached up his arm to suck herself off his fingers. She lowered her head between his thighs on the couch.

She wanted to protect Caesar's seed inside of her. She wanted her brother to be by her side. She wanted to devour both of them. She wanted to claim and destroy her family until she was the last one standing.

His thin, small dick slid inside of her. She held her knees closed as he mounted on top of her. Sometimes, she would pretend she was asleep, as Ptolemy preferred. She supposed he wanted to feel like he was winning some sort of game. Often, she would let her brother win this silly game.

It turned her on. Sometimes, she would think of her brother when she was sleeping in her chambers alone. Two pharaohs playing two very different games.

He was quick and breathy as he slid in and out of her. Sweat already started beading around his forehead. He pushed a few more times, deeper now. Cleopatra squeezed her legs together even tighter, clenching her vagina as tight as she could around his narrow cock.

Suddenly, Cleopatra was brough back into the present by her friend.

"Did you hear me? We should head back to the library."

They returned to the library with a full bellies and considerably improved spirits, Cleopatra settled again at the table with her women.

"I found something you might like," said the motherly one.

She handed Cleopatra a scroll.

"It concerns the fertility of the Delta. Why the land is so lush and green. There is an interesting connection to the land of the dead."

"Thank you, my dear one. That does sound interesting. It is no wonder so many of our pharaohs have gone on to enjoy such rich afterlives."

She hummed thoughtfully.

"But before we get into that, I have something to bring to the physician. He was wrong about the mugwort."

She rose.

The physician looked up when Cleopatra entered.

"No. You don't understand the research I've done to get here. I recorded my findings each time. This was not a once-in-a-blue moon occurrence. It works for others as well, not only me."

"It is not impossible, Pharaoh," the physician said. "You may have observed something unusual about the herb. I simply cannot accept that it has this exact effect."

He sighed.

"It has never been recorded by any scholar I know. There is speculation, of course. Things women murmur to one another about herbs, brews, and witches' potions."

He gave her a chastising look.

"Do you truly believe you have discovered something new about mugwort? It has been studied by physicians across the region."

"That is where we differ." Cleopatra folded her arms.

"I believe it has been known. It simply has not yet been recognized in the texts. I honor the histories this library holds. I also honor the wisdom that exists beyond these walls. I am not trying to replace what has come before. I want to deepen our understanding of it."

The physician studied her for a moment.

"I see. Then pass along your findings, and I will see that they are reviewed."

"I will submit them myself," Cleopatra said. "But I appreciate the offer."

She turned on her heel, the charms on her anklet chiming softly as she crossed the grand room.

When she returned to the table, her anger had not entirely left her.

One of the women was whispering as she arrived. "And the Romans are much hairier than the foreign merchants I've seen. I cannot stand the smell of them. Those Roman men think themselves warriors because they smell of their own sweat."

"Not the honest sweat of a day's labor," another added. "Blood and steel."

"It's true," Cleopatra said, joining the laughter. "They smell like rotting metal."

She paused.

"At least Caesar has one redeeming quality."

The women leaned closer.

"He has a very Roman appetite."

The table erupted.

Cleopatra's eyes drifted toward the middle distance beyond the window.

"The physician said he would personally deliver my scrolls for review. As though I could not do it myself."

Her shoulders dropped toward the table.

"Better a woman with knowledge than a physician with no one left to practice upon," her friend declared.

"And better a hairy roman with a seat at the thrown than a hairless one with an empty purse."

They exchanged gentle smiles and long, knowing looks before Cleopatra finally burst into laughter.

When her laughter subsided, she lifted her head.

She had decided.

"Before Caesar leaves, I will submit my writings. And after he is gone, work will begin on the temple of Isis upriver."

"Isis is not going anywhere," the quietest of them said. She picked absently at her nailbeds. "She is here. I saw her shining in the temple fire this morning. There is no need to rush."

Cleopatra offered her a soft smile.

The fabric of her dress felt tight against her stomach as she let herself relax into the chair.

There would be time.

Her advisor was right.

Then a dark figure cast a shadow across her.

She felt him before she saw him, first as a shift in the light, then as a presence at the edge of the table.

Greetings were exchanged before Caesar turned toward the shelves.

"I was hoping someone here could show me the section on shipbuilding."

He threw Cleopatra a smile.

"Indeed," she said. "I was hoping to have you to myself one last time before your departure. This way, Gaius."

They moved between the closed rows and towering stacks of scrolls.

Cleopatra watched him with growing curiosity.

"And what, precisely, has brought you to shipbuilding? The sails? The timber? Or are you finally admitting that ships are rather more complicated than soldiers?"

"The fleet."

"Ah."

Her interest sharpened.

"Then this is war."

"I'm looking at fortifying what I have. I possess more ships now than Rome has ever seen assembled under one command. But numbers are of little use if they are scattered."

"And you want an advantage."

"I want an edge."

Cleopatra trailed her fingers along the spine of a scroll.

"Have you seen the ships they have brought from the west?"

"I've heard of them."

"They are enormous. Broad in the hull, high above the water. When they enter a harbor, they do not look like ships. They look like fortresses that have learned to float."

Caesar smiled.

"A useful quality."

"A terrifying one."

"Only if one mistakes size for strength."

She glanced at him.

"Do you?"

"No."

His smile faded.

"But my enemy might. And that can be just as useful."

Cleopatra considered him.

"Ah. So you are not building ships."

"I am building an expectation."

"A threat before the battle."

"A battle before the battle."

She smiled faintly.

"Demoralization."

"Protection," Caesar corrected.

"Those are not the same thing."

"No," he said. "But the best protection is convincing your enemy that attacking you will cost him more than victory is worth."

Cleopatra stopped beside a shelf and turned toward him.

"And what if he attacks anyway?"

"Then I want him to discover that the thing he feared was real."

Her smile widened.

"Now you sound like a Roman."

"And you sound like someone who has already decided how to defeat me."

"Perhaps I am only deciding whether you are worth defeating."

A pause.

"Why does Rome always need more?"

Caesar considered her. "Because Rome is never finished." The afternoon air seemed to thicken between them. "You could come with us."

Cleopatra raised a hand to the back of her neck, laughing as she played with her hair.

"Oh, you would like that, would you?"

He smiled.

"Very much."

"And leave Egypt?"

"I did not say that."

"No," Cleopatra said. "But you thought it."

She stepped closer.

"And that, Gaius, is why I think you need a better section on diplomacy."