Read Online 0316382981 by Emily Holleman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Emily Holleman
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you.”
“There’s no need for that, Thais,” her eunuch sneered. “The priests have already said their words.”
“It would be—it would be an honor to serve you, in whatever capacity you see fit. A—a great honor.”
The man was terrified—that much was clear. Berenice had already begun to tire of his shaking voice, and she turned her attention to his fellows behind: old Nereus leaning on a young man’s—Dryton’s—shoulder. Unlike Thais, neither appeared especially anxious.
“Or not to serve, if the queen prefers,” Thais nattered on. “There can be honor in that as well. What—whatever the queen sees fit—”
“The queen would prefer your silence, Thais. She is likely too distracted by your stammering to see anything at all.”
The reedy minister shrunk at the eunuch’s words. He was a tall man but his shoulders hunched and his whole body looked as though it might collapse in on itself. Berenice smiled at Pieton. Snappish and ornery was how she liked him best. He served her well as a guard dog, her very own Cerberus.
Her gaze turned to Nereus. Among the oldest of the old guard, he’d gone almost completely bald. The hairs that once covered his head seemed to have migrated to his face, sprouting up in tufted eyebrows and bursting in thick clots from his nose. She’d never liked Nereus—she’d no reason to. After all, he’d advised her father to renounce her mother. He’d whispered poison in the Piper’s ear: “Sons are what you need. And your wife only whelps dead ones.” Or so Pieton had told her.
“Tell me, Nereus: why do you stand before me now?” This old man, despite his fickleness, required her courtesies. No one knew the inner workings of the army and the kingdom as well as he—and no one had more experience staving off the Romans. He still saw her as a girl, as helpless as on the day her father set aside her mother. But she’d show him otherwise. Spineless or not, he had his uses. As long as he learned his place.
His gray brow furrowed. He tried to read the wishes on her face. “Because, my queen, I have a reputation for serving the realm. I’ve served Alexandria since thirty years before your birth. I serve whoever rules. And you are the queen.”
“While that’s all very admirable, Nereus, we’ll need more proof of loyalty than that,” Pieton answered. “How are we to know that you won’t send letters to the Piper? Even now, you might be telling him the inner workings of the palace.”
“Very well, eunuch.” The old man pinched at the sagging skin along his throat. He’d had a beard when Berenice was young—she couldn’t fathom what foolishness had driven him to shave it off. “What would you ask of me to prove my loyalty?”
“The confidences between you and the Piper.”
“You may have every letter that has passed between us two,” Nereus rejoined solemnly. “I’ll have my servant fetch them from my chambers at once.”
“I knew you’d be cooperative.” Berenice smiled, savoring each word. She’d let him squirm a while longer. “So I took the liberty of having my guards sort through your things.”
Nereus’s enormous eyebrows descended like great gray clouds over the sun, threatening to block his eyes entirely; perhaps he had more to hide than she had imagined. She would have her soldiers do a second sweep.
“Do you know where my father sails, Nereus?” she asked lightly.
“I know he is now in Rhodes,” the old man replied with care. “But I don’t know where he plans to go from there.”
“I do,” his young friend—Dryton—interjected. He had broad shoulders and a soldier’s build. He wore his hair long as was the fashion among men her age, and he tossed an errant lock from his eyes before he continued. “I know your father, the Piper, sails to Rome. He told me so himself. He’ll seek a favor from Pompey, a longtime friend of his. But he’ll still have to beg his case before the Senate.”
“Everyone knows that the Piper
“There’s no need for that, Thais,” her eunuch sneered. “The priests have already said their words.”
“It would be—it would be an honor to serve you, in whatever capacity you see fit. A—a great honor.”
The man was terrified—that much was clear. Berenice had already begun to tire of his shaking voice, and she turned her attention to his fellows behind: old Nereus leaning on a young man’s—Dryton’s—shoulder. Unlike Thais, neither appeared especially anxious.
“Or not to serve, if the queen prefers,” Thais nattered on. “There can be honor in that as well. What—whatever the queen sees fit—”
“The queen would prefer your silence, Thais. She is likely too distracted by your stammering to see anything at all.”
The reedy minister shrunk at the eunuch’s words. He was a tall man but his shoulders hunched and his whole body looked as though it might collapse in on itself. Berenice smiled at Pieton. Snappish and ornery was how she liked him best. He served her well as a guard dog, her very own Cerberus.
Her gaze turned to Nereus. Among the oldest of the old guard, he’d gone almost completely bald. The hairs that once covered his head seemed to have migrated to his face, sprouting up in tufted eyebrows and bursting in thick clots from his nose. She’d never liked Nereus—she’d no reason to. After all, he’d advised her father to renounce her mother. He’d whispered poison in the Piper’s ear: “Sons are what you need. And your wife only whelps dead ones.” Or so Pieton had told her.
“Tell me, Nereus: why do you stand before me now?” This old man, despite his fickleness, required her courtesies. No one knew the inner workings of the army and the kingdom as well as he—and no one had more experience staving off the Romans. He still saw her as a girl, as helpless as on the day her father set aside her mother. But she’d show him otherwise. Spineless or not, he had his uses. As long as he learned his place.
His gray brow furrowed. He tried to read the wishes on her face. “Because, my queen, I have a reputation for serving the realm. I’ve served Alexandria since thirty years before your birth. I serve whoever rules. And you are the queen.”
“While that’s all very admirable, Nereus, we’ll need more proof of loyalty than that,” Pieton answered. “How are we to know that you won’t send letters to the Piper? Even now, you might be telling him the inner workings of the palace.”
“Very well, eunuch.” The old man pinched at the sagging skin along his throat. He’d had a beard when Berenice was young—she couldn’t fathom what foolishness had driven him to shave it off. “What would you ask of me to prove my loyalty?”
“The confidences between you and the Piper.”
“You may have every letter that has passed between us two,” Nereus rejoined solemnly. “I’ll have my servant fetch them from my chambers at once.”
“I knew you’d be cooperative.” Berenice smiled, savoring each word. She’d let him squirm a while longer. “So I took the liberty of having my guards sort through your things.”
Nereus’s enormous eyebrows descended like great gray clouds over the sun, threatening to block his eyes entirely; perhaps he had more to hide than she had imagined. She would have her soldiers do a second sweep.
“Do you know where my father sails, Nereus?” she asked lightly.
“I know he is now in Rhodes,” the old man replied with care. “But I don’t know where he plans to go from there.”
“I do,” his young friend—Dryton—interjected. He had broad shoulders and a soldier’s build. He wore his hair long as was the fashion among men her age, and he tossed an errant lock from his eyes before he continued. “I know your father, the Piper, sails to Rome. He told me so himself. He’ll seek a favor from Pompey, a longtime friend of his. But he’ll still have to beg his case before the Senate.”
“Everyone knows that the Piper
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