Every Last Kiss

Page 26

“Here, your highness,”I handed her the small jeweled saucer.“Eat something.”

She snatched it from my hands and grumpily chewed on the bread as she stared out at the harbor.“Charmian, you know we will still need to summon Tehran today.This doesn’t change that.”

“I understand, Cleopatra,”I acknowledged.“But what shall we do about Iras?”

She turned to me in confusion.“What is there to do, Charmian?But wait?”

I nodded dejectedly. She was right.There wasn’t a thing that we could do.But perhaps burn a few bunches of incense to Sekhmet.I would utter some frantic prayers to God, too, even though Christianity hadn’t even been thought of yet.It wouldn’t hurt to cover all of my bases.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Tehran impatiently sat in Cleopatra’s sitting room, looking horribly out of place on a delicate golden chair.His oily face caught the light from the windows and I could barely contain my repulsion.His bony arms clutched a tea cup and I could see his hands shaking slightly.So much for his pretense that he was cool as could be.He was a thinly concealed weasel. He probably almost had a heart-attack when Cleopatra had sent her guards to bring him to her chambers.

Very few people saw her personal chambers and he was getting a prolonged look, as Cleopatra was making him wait.I knew that she was probably doing absolutely nothing in her bedchamber, but she wanted to make him understand that as queen, she could do as she wished.If she wanted him to wait for four hours, so be it.I personally prayed that it wouldn’t be that long.I had to stand in here and supervise the worm.We obviously couldn’t leave him alone.

Thankfully for me, she emerged just a few moments later, appearing as calm as she could be.Her face was cool and collected as she stared regally down her nose at him.He quickly set his teacup aside and dropped to the floor, touching his nose to her Persian carpets.

“You may rise,”she commanded coolly, gliding silently to a chaise lounge adjacent to the chair he had been sitting in. “Please…sit,”she instructed.

As she crossed her legs delicately, she appraised him slowly, pursing her full lips as she did so.

“Tehran,”she drawled softly, narrowing her heavily made up eyes.I noted with amusement that she had added a thick layer of additional kohl since I had originally done her face this morning.I rolled my eyes before I could stop myself.Leave it to Cleopatra to be extra-dramatic.

“We all know why you are here,”she purred smoothly, as she fiddled with a thick string of pearls. Tehran’s eyes widened noticeably as he watched her, but he didn’t say anything for a minute.

He gulped hard and finally said, “We do, your majesty?”

I found myself transfixed on his prominent Adam’s apple, which bobbed with every word he spoke.The man was just all-around disgusting.

“Of course we do,”she nodded.“Let’s not play games, Tehran.You know about the unique pendant that your master has in his possession. And I obviously know about it, as does Charmian.Especially Charmian, since it is hers.”

Tehran’s eyes flitted to me briefly before he returned his nervous gaze to the queen.I noted that he was frantically tapping his heel against his chair.

“So, since we are all in on the secret, let’s get down to business, shall we?”She asked, narrowing her eyes again.“Pothinus stole it from its rightful owner and I know that somehow, you have been involved.”

Tehran started to deny it as sweat broke out on his brow.

“Now, now,”she reassured him.“That only means that you are quite bright and very loyal… to help your master in such a way.”

The dulcet tones of her voice were as smooth as honey and Tehran’s face went from nervous to confused to flattered in about two seconds flat.I almost laughed out loud.Cleopatra’s infamous charm seemed to be working once again. She was like a well-oiled machine.

He watched her eagerly for her next words and I realized that he was practically eating out of her hand already.This would be a piece of cake.And really, now that I thought about it, I didn’t know why I had doubted it.Knowing Pothinus, he wasn’t exactly the best master.He was probably ungrateful and harsh.Not exactly loyalty inspiring.

“I know that this will be a difficult decision for someone as loyal as you, Tehran,”she continued, “but I could really use someone of your cunning and intelligence on my staff.You see… Pothinus has become a thorn in my side.And I have discovered that I can’t handle him alone.”

She batted her eyes femininely and I almost choked again. She was really laying it on thick…the whole, I’m-a-helpless-female-and-I-need-you-to-rescue-me routine, and I could tell from his smitten face that it was working.No one could resist her when she put her mind to it.

“Well, I… I don’t know what you need, my queen,”he stammered.

“I need you on my team, Tehran,”she purred again.Rising fluidly from her seat, she crossed to him, bending to murmur in his ear.Her musky, distinct scent enveloped them and he closed his eyes as he inhaled.

“Tehran, will you please help me?”she whispered huskily into his ear.

He all but melted into a pool at her feet as he nodded, his eyes still closed. He didn’t see the exultant, triumphant look that Cleopatra shot me over his head.I smiled and shook my head.

“You will have my undying gratitude, Tehran, as my loyal servant.”She looked to me. “And you can ask Charmian about how I treat my loyal staff.”I was quick to reassure him.

“Yes, Tehran.You will not find a more appreciative queen anywhere,”I nodded.“Cleopatra is most unselfish.She always desires only the best for Egypt.It is her driving force.”

His eyes flew open.“But what about me, my queen?Pothinus has said that you only want to kill us both in your efforts to save Egypt.”