The Passion of Cleopatra (Ramses the Damned 2)

"I've seen my wife," Elliott said. "Don't worry. It was a very guarded meeting. I protected her as best I could from the robust health I enjoy now."

"I'm glad you saw her," said Julie.

"I gave her a hundred trivial reassurances and a hundred falsehoods as to my future travels," said Elliott. "To tell you the truth, I think she was quite glad to see me going off again. I have always been a demanding man."

"You've provided for her splendidly," said Julie. "She has come into her own in a wholly new way."

"Yes," said Elliott. "A great burden has been lifted from her, the burden of a chronically melancholy and unloving husband who was at his best a wounded older brother always in need of comfort and allowances...."

"Don't torture yourself," said Julie. "Don't look back. You were always good to Edith. But you're right, she's happy now."

Elliott nodded. He drank more of his wine, drank it freely as if it were water.

"No doubt she thinks I have a lover," said Elliott. "She said something to the effect that she admired my courage to leave London behind." He laughed. "And no doubt she'll take a lover of her own very soon. The revenues from my investments are increasing." He glanced at Ramses. "What will happen to my investments now with this war, I can't know. But I've deposited capital in a number of American banks as well as European ones."

"Wise," said Julie. She watched quietly as Ramses drew a folded sheet of paper from his coat and handed it to Elliott.

"Another place in Africa," said Ramses. "Where you should purchase land as soon as you can. Wait six months, perhaps longer. Then search for the old mines in the jungles. You'll find them."

"You're too kind to me," said Elliott. "But with this war, you should be doing these things yourself."

"Oh, don't worry," said Ramses. "When we first returned to London, I met with Julie's sage advisors. Of course they had many reservations. But many ventures have been arranged. Can any war affect the value of diamonds or gold?"

"What of Alex?" asked Julie. "Did you see him?"

"No," said Elliott. "Couldn't take the risk with those young eyes that would see what Edith's eyes can't see. But I've watched him from afar. And I know that he's gone off with the mysterious madwoman from Cairo. I understand now what Edith does not understand and must never understand. Alex's life is poisoned with knowledge of the elixir, and of us."

"Yes, this is all true," said Julie. Quickly she recounted all she knew of Alex's self-willed exile. "But you cannot know what Cleopatra has endured, what she's become."

Julie told him the story, the whole story, of Saqnos and Bektaten and the gruesome deaths of the fracti at the engagement party. She described the strangle lily and its power, and the temperament of the ancient queen who possessed this secret. She explained the corrupted elixir of Saqnos, and the fragments of information regarding the nochtin, those like Cleopatra raised from the dead. In a hushed voice, on the edge of tears, she explained the dreadful threat that now darkened the future for Cleopatra, that she might soon go mad.

Then she went on to recount the story of Sibyl Parker. She spoke of migrant souls, and mysteries of life after death. She spoke of Sibyl's dreams and Cleopatra's dreams, and the link between them. She spoke again of the placid and unfathomable nature of the great Bektaten.

And she explained that Sibyl Parker was now welcome in the house of Bektaten, Bektaten who might share the pure elixir with the wounded Cleopatra should Bektaten be asked.

All the while Elliott listened in amazement. Finally Julie fell silent and looked to Ramses to go on.

"This great queen and I have a treaty of sorts," said Ramses. "She wants no more rash acts on my part, no attempts ever again to wake the dead. She has the power of life and death over me, over all of us, yet she accepts my bold claim to determine when and how I might pass on the elixir again."

He studied the earl, as always impressed with the quick intelligence evident in the earl's eyes.

"But at any time," said Ramses, "this queen may decide to assert her authority over all of us who share this immortal journey with her. And we must, all of us, beware of this danger. We must never underestimate the power of Bektaten. We must never count on her indifference. She is now part of our world."

Elliott nodded. "I wish that I had shared the chance to meet this woman," he said. "But perhaps someday, whether I want it or not, I will find myself in her presence."

"Yes, that could be," said Ramses. "She travels with only two attendants, men as dark of complexion as she is, and in their own way as impressive, Aktamu and Enamon, but there is no telling how many mortals she may have at her command. She has not told us the full story of her life."

"I admire her," said Julie with her usual sweetness and enthusiasm. "I trust her, trust that she'll never harm us, never subject us to caprice or pure will." She glanced for approval to Ramses, and seeing his impassive face she went quiet.

"You have a great heart, Julie," said Ramses. "You have managed to love them all--Sibyl Parker, my broken Cleopatra, and even this powerful queen."

"It's true, Ramses, but how can I not be a creature of instinct, even more now than before? If she meant to hurt us, she would have done it, surely."

"Yes, perhaps," said Ramses. "But we must never forget what we've seen with our own eyes. The queen tends a garden of many mysterious blooms."

He reached for the wine to refill Elliott's crystal goblet. And the earl nodded gratefully. Their eyes met again, and then Elliott spoke.

"I don't ask you for the elixir for my son, Alex," he said. "I've pondered this for some time. It is my belief that Alex has a destiny, and that is to marry, to have children, to continue the Savarell line--all of which the elixir would bring to an end. Of course there may come a time when he may ask for the elixir. I wanted it from the very first moment I suspected its existence. So why shouldn't he? But I see my son's youth and I see his capacity for love, and I do see a marriage and children in his future. I can't deny it."