Free Clockwork Countess by Delphine Page A

shifted.  She pulled harder, with everything she had, and at last the heavy lid slowly, bit by bit, slipped off unit it finally fell with a thud into the silt. 
    She peered inside. 
    For a moment she couldn’t breathe.  Cleopatra stared at the figure blankly, then gripped by sudden intense grief, crumpled against the side of the sarcophagus. 
    “This cannot be.  This cannot be….” she repeated it like a mantra, closing her eyes tight and pressing her brow against the granite.  She would block out everything but the darkness and the cool stone beneath her skin. 
    But the yearning to see him, to touch his cold cheek, forced her to lift her head and her tears spilled onto his lifeless form.  With the strength of Isis flowing through her, she tenderly lifted him from the coffin and held him close against her breast, rocking him back and forth with a heartache so piercing, she knew only her immortal blood prevented it from killing her. 
    She traced her fingertips over his inanimate features.  He was the great hope of her life: lover, mentor, protector, father of her son.
    She pressed a heartbroken kiss to his chilled forehead. “Caesar, not you….”
     
     
     
    Cleopatra awoke to feel Iris gently shaking her, calling her back from the vision.  As consciousness returned, she realized she still lay on the chilly balcony.  Her stiff limbs ached as Iris helped her to stand. 
    How long had she been there? 
    She looked up at the sky.  The sickle of a moon still hung low over the dark horizon. 
    Perhaps it was not too late.
    As Cleopatra hurried into her chamber, Charmion came forward with a goblet of water.  Thankfully, Cleopatra drank it down, cooling the parched heat that always claimed her after a vision.  She pressed her hands to her temples, trying to force away the nightmare image of Caesar’s lifeless body resting in the black sarcophagus.
    Worry clouded Iris’s pale blue eyes. "Queen of Heaven, are you ill?"
    Cleopatra took a deep breath. "I must see Caesar.”  She turned to her other attendant.  “Charmion, have my chariot prepared as quickly as possible."
    Charmion, her ebony skin gleaming in the soft lamplight, bowed and retreated into the dark corridor. 
    Cleopatra’s attention fell back on Iris. "Awaken Apollodorus.  I must speak with him–"
    But the old priest already stood in her doorway, awaiting permission to enter.  Cleopatra was not surprised.  Her grandfather’s ability to read the thoughts of others was even greater than her own.  She was thankful he had come so quickly.  Even at this hour, he was correctly dressed in his pleated white kilt, a leopard skin fastened across his right shoulder, his head shaved clean.
    Cleopatra beckoned him in. "Praise the Gods you’re here."
    Apollodorus bowed. "Queen of Heaven, I thought you would need me tonight.  I have seen terrible visions of Caesar."              
    Her heart sank.  Why did he have to confirm her fears?  "I’ve seen them too." 
    The old priest sighed. "Tomorrow the Senate is to award Caesar the crown of Rome, is it not?"
    Cleopatra nodded, afraid of what they both knew. "The senators will betray him.  They’ll claim they guard their precious Republic from the tyranny of a king, when it’s they who are tyrants, always greedy for more land, more power.  I must warn Caesar!"   She pulled her mantle around her shoulders and headed towards the corridor.
    The old priest’s gaze fell on the sleeping baby in his cradled and lingered there a moment.  “I’ll order your barge to sail at dawn and keep careful watch over Caesarion until you are aboard."
    Cleopatra stopped in her tracks.  "Are you so sure Caesar cannot be saved?"
    Apollodorus gently took her hand and she detected pity in his eyes. "Caesar is a brave and stubborn man.  Tomorrow he is to be crowned king of the largest territory in the world.  Do you think he’ll stay away from the Senate because you have had a bad dream?"
    "But he honors