Free Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter

to command a spell be learned before your apprenticeship.”
    “But what does it
mean?”
I asked again, hurrying after her as she led me toward the temple entrance, where Katep waited for me.
    Amunet stopped and turned toward me. “Child, only the gods know what it ‘means.’ It is not for us to question the gods but to obey.”
    I followed more slowly after that, wondering where I had heard that phrase before. And then I remembered. Hadn’t the rabbi said that very thing about their first man and woman? I shook my head, more confused than ever. How can humans have free will and choose
ma’at
if our only job is to obey?
    Euginia normally roused me in the mornings by jumping onto my sleeping couch. Zosima often complained that she could hear our raucous laughter and whoops even down at the latrines. But one morning, I woke on my own, without her tickles or jumps. Had she overslept? I
got
up and padded into her room.
    “Euginia, am I to be
your
lady this morning?” I asked, grinning as I prepared to launch myself onto
her
sleeping couch. But I straightened when I saw she was already out of bed. Her long hair was in disarray, her nostrils red, and her eyes puffy. She was putting all her finest tunics and dresses in one pile on the floor at her feet.
    “What is the matter?” I asked, alarmed and confused.
    “I must leave to join my father,” she said.
    “What? You cannot leave! This is where you live! And you … you are
mine!”
    She shook her head. “My father says the queen will lose the war….”
    I blew out air in surprise, but she continued.
    “My tata has left Alexandria. He renounced his position and calls for us, for my family, to join him in exile. He has an estate in Heliopolis and wants to ride out the remainder of the war in safety there.”
    “He has turned traitor?” I asked in disbelief.
    “No, not traitor,” Euginia said. “Just … just … He says he wants to keep his family safe.”
    “But you have been consecrated to me,” I cried. “You cannot leave!”
    Euginia shook her head. “Our dedication ceremony was never sanctified by the priestesses, remember? We were to wait until after our first bloods. Tata says that I break no sacred law by leaving you now.”
    My thoughts spun in confusion. Was it true? Were Mother and Father actually
losing
? I knew they had been trapped in Actium for some time, but I never doubted that they would turn things around. Did Euginia’s father know something I did not?
    “What if … what if I commanded you to stay?” I asked, lifting my chin. “I can do that!”
    Euginia’s large eyes filled with tears.
    “You would defy me?” I asked, stung.
    “No. It is that I … I cannot defy my father,” she said. “If I don’t come willingly, he will send guards to drag me away.”
    “But that is outrageous,” I cried. “Our palace guards would protect you! If I gave the order, they would not even let them inside.”
    “My father has already made arrangements with King Caesarion. Your guards will step back.”
    I put my hands on my hips. “But why? And why would Caesarion be involved in this?”
    “Because Father has told the king that if he does not allow us to slip away from Alexandria without notice, he will spread panic throughout the court and the city about what is really happening in Actium. So you see? We have no choice. I must go.”
    I could barely breathe as I took in her words. Was it true that my parents might lose the war? Impossible!
    “I do not want you to go,” I said, my voice dropping almost to a whisper.
    “I do not want to leave either,” Euginia said. “But … but when this is all over, when the queen returns triumphant, I will rejoin you as your lady. Then, by the Laws of Isis and Horus, we will never be parted again. That is a promise.”
    “I will hold you to it, sister,” I said through a tight throat. And so the process of losing everyone I ever loved began.
    Mother returned from Actium not long after. She