Free Keeper of the Flame by Tracy L. Higley

governed by Arsinôe and the younger Ptolemy XIV.”
    The crowd cheered like they had each been given a personal gift by the man they so recently wanted to murder. Ah, politics .
    It was a strategic move, giving back Cyprus, and at the same time removing her younger sister and one of her younger brothers from Alexandria, to a place they were less likely to cause future problems.
    She readied herself to speak to the people, as Caesar had promised she could.
    “And here in Alexandria,” Caesar yelled above the din, “another brother and sister on the throne. But not brother and sister only. In the manner of true Egypt, you shall have a husband and wife on the throne. Ptolemy and Cleopatra will marry immediately!”
    Cleopatra’s stomach twisted and then surged. She stared atCaesar, who had turned a smile on her. He held out a hand and stepped aside, giving her the center of the orchestra. She swallowed, struggling to control the furious anger that churned in her chest.
    Marry the brat? Yes, it was often done in Egypt’s past. But what of Caesar? Were they not destined to rule the world side-by-side? She would not believe that he had so soon cast her off.
    But hers was not the only objection. While the people cheered Caesar’s announcement, her brother Ptolemy leaped to the circle from where he stood near the bottom of the rows of seats.
    “A king needs no co-regent!” he yelled.
    Roman soldiers jumped to his side and dragged him from the circle.
    That was when she saw it. The wisdom of it all. The boy’s advisors had trained him well, and Ptolemy would never accept her as Egypt’s ruler. If she and Caesar hoped to retain power, they must do all they could to solidify her reign over the people. A royal marriage would bring the support of both the many thousands of Egyptians who still held to the old ways, and the Greeks who favored Ptolemy.
    A plan both brilliant and odious, and she loved Caesar as a strategist, even as she hated him as a man. She turned to face the crowd.
    “My people! You can see that Rome has nothing but Egypt’s good at heart. You can see that Gaius Julius Caesar is Egypt’s friend. While my brother’s advisors have been making the foolish decisions to assassinate the Roman Pompey and to rebel against Rome’s presence, I have been securing the friendship of this great leader.” She held a hand to Caesar, and he grasped it.
    Together they lifted their hands above their heads. A smattering of applause went up from the people.
    More. More is needed.
    “You have before you a true Ptolemy, from a long line of great rulers. I will rule from my royal heart, not from the whisperings of eunuchs and teachers. And my brother will grow into his role as king at my side.”
    From below the orchestra, Ptolemy struggled in the grasp of two soldiers but was wise enough to hold his tongue.
    “The Romans are here, citizens of Alexandria! They are a mighty people, and the world must take note. Will we make ourselves the enemy of Rome, to be trampled? Or will we work with this new power, and together build an even greater and wealthier new Egypt?”
    She turned to the general at her side, whose admiration as he watched her, warmed her to her depths. She raised an arm in salute, and called out in a strong and full voice. “Hail, Caesar!”
    There was only a moment’s pause, and then the people responded, as she knew they would.
    “Hail, Caesar!”
    Triumph curled into a small smile, and she held her arm still upraised.
    But in the roar of approval that followed, the voice that hounded her through all of her decisions would not cease its dark whispering: You are committed now. For better or worse. And when it is all over, will Egypt still be yours? Or have you just sold yourself to Rome?

Nine
    I t was dark when Sophia decided that the rotating Roman guard that paced across the palace courtyard had sufficiently thinned. They were watchful for angry mobs, but one woman who knew every inch of the palace could