The Passion of Cleopatra (Ramses the Damned 2)

"Have I done a terrible thing again?" he asked. "As terrible as bringing her back to life?"

"No, Ramses."

"But Sibyl? What will happen to Sibyl?"

"Sibyl is now free from whatever horrors Cleopatra suffered in this place. And so is Cleopatra."

"But that was not the extent of what we promised."

"Find her and free her. Those were Sibyl's words. And we have done so. The rest? It will be accomplished in time. Cleopatra is no longer the monstrous, plotting thing we knew in Cairo. We can be sure of this now. She is weakened. She is ailing. And in this moment, it is not Sibyl's expectations with which we should be entirely concerned. She was not the one who demanded we bring Cleopatra to the castle. That was Bektaten. So we must now see if our new queen is satisfied with the hostage we do bring her."

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her gently. "You marry your wisdom to love, Julie. This ensures I will be forever your captive."

She returned his kiss.

The door swung open behind him, and there stood Aktamu. He had wiped his face free of the pollen, and his look was expectant.

"Come," he said, "we must go."

39

Cornwall

What must he have thought when he awoke to the sight of a comforting fire beside him and the sound of the sea outside? Was he flooded with relief to be freed from the hounds?

Ramses could not know.

When he saw his queen, seated only a few feet away, in a high-backed chair that matched his own, Saqnos went as still as a statue, and so Ramses could not determine the thoughts that went through his mind, but he remained desperately curious.

Saqnos gazed silently at Bektaten. She gazed back.

Did he find her beautiful, this statuesque black woman with the long, thin jeweled braids flowing over her shoulders? For gone was the turban she had worn earlier, and more clinging and flattering was her long red gown.

Was Saqnos still rising from unconsciousness? Was the sedative to explain for his continued silence? They'd given him something else as well. Ramses was sure of it. Some other potion from their endless supply of potions. Would he ever be privy to how many medicines and poisons they possessed?

Upon their arrival, Aktamu and Enamon had taken the man's seemingly lifeless body off to the armory and kept him there for several minutes before carrying him to the great hall like a giant rag doll. Perhaps whatever they had given him was intended to hasten his awakening.

Saqnos shook his head. For the first time he seemed to sense the presence of others in the room aside from Bektaten. He looked at Ramses, and then Julie. They stood close to the window and its view of a star-filled sky.

Slowly, his eyes found the daggers they both held in hand.

What was such a short period of unconsciousness like for an immortal? Ramses wondered. Had he experienced dreaming for the first

time in centuries?

So many questions he could not ask, for this was not his trial to conduct. He and Julie were now witnesses. Witnesses and guards.

Finally, Saqnos spoke. "Am I allowed once again to call you my queen?"

Bektaten was silent for a long time before responding.

Ramses noticed for the first time the jeweled rings she wore, and the jeweled belt that defined her narrow waist, flattering her shapely hips. Were these ornaments worn for Saqnos? Was it for him that she had put aside the robes that concealed her physical gifts?

They certainly affected Ramses, but he used all his power to conceal this, to conceal the quickening in his blood at the vision of this regal black face framed in the gold-and pearl-threaded braids of an ancient Egyptian queen--at the vision of Bektaten's exquisitely shaped breasts.

Finally Bektaten spoke.

"You remember Jericho?" she asked.