Read Online Cleopatra Occult by Peter Joseph Swanson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Peter Joseph Swanson
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on the beach at a port in Gela, she met Octavian. He looked relieved to see her. Then he puzzled. “What happened to you? Why are you in Sicily?”
She wearily stood. “Oh Pegasus! Mark Antony and I were lost at sea!”
“You look safely landed, to me.” Octavian took her to a cart that was selling bread by the slice. “Any sign of him?”
She sadly shook her head. Tears came to her eyes as she put her hand on her heart.
“Oh he’s alive, I’m sure. I’m not so lucky to be rid of him yet. I bet his jealousy for me is keeping him alive, if anything. Hate is very powerful.”
Phaedra said, “Oh no, Mark thinks of you like a brother. He told me that when I first met him on the road to your villa.”
Octavian looked doubting. “He’s only kind when he owes me money. Why did you leave my villa so quickly with him? Did you take to the sea with him willingly?”
She said she had.
Octavian pressed, “He didn’t kidnap you?”
“No such intrigue. He was too nice but that was all.”
Octavian nodded. “He’s always had such bad luck with his endeavors with ships. But that doesn’t mean he actually drowned—not enough to be dead. In all of his sea battles he spent all the time of the fight floating around like a harmless piece of wood.”
Phaedra wondered about that.
“Oh yes.” He chuckled. “Once, as Mark led the charge in the Tyrrhenian Sea, as he jumped from his ship to the ship of the foe, he missed. He floated for two days until he bumped into an island of Corsica.”
She dabbed at her eyes.
“Don’t cry.”
Phaedra knelt on the beach and scooped up sand in both hands. She watched it slowly flow from her fingers. She said, “Tears on my fingers, sand through my hand. Is impermanence now grounded? Did time take him to land?”
“What witchcraft is that?”
“I do feel as if he’s alive. But how? The sea is so very cruel and deep.”
Octavian looked up to the sky. The air was full of gulls. “The gods toy with men like Mark Antony. He’s the perfect type of man to give them many laughs. And the gods seem kinder to you. They’ve given you to me.”
“The gods? They gave me to you? Oh my Pegasus!”
He nodded.
Phaedra stood again, brushing sand from her knees. “Being a Roman citizen does have its advantages when traveling.”
“The luck is all mine. I don’t know what I would have done without you. Bluff, I guess. I’ve done that plenty of times before. But I’ve also gambled away my purse that way.”
Phaedra was baffled. “How could I be of any real importance to you?”
Octavian told her, “I need your expertise as a merchant. I’ve gone out on a limb… until you, until now.”
“Oh, you don’t need me.”
“Now that Mark has lost half my cargo, and who knows when he’ll pay me back, I do need you this frugal hour.”
Phaedra didn’t believe him. “A man of your importance shouldn’t have to need anybody.”
Octavian divulged, “It’s rather fun, actually, shipping contraband about for quick cash.”
“You need quick cash?”
Octavian looked pained. “I always need cash. I’m tired of waiting for the taxes from all the farmers on my lands. And that isn’t quick cash. But anyway, I traded a pile of Greek furniture for a much bigger pile of Persian furniture that went through Syria and ended up in Sicily. Since we’re at war with Persia it’s all verboten in Rome. But if I switch it with an even bigger pile of Hindu furniture while I’m in Alexandria I make even more profits.”
Phaedra asked, “What would Hindu furniture be doing in a Greek city in Egypt?”
“Alexandria has a huge Hindu population, although the furniture might have been made by the people of Moses. Alexandria has the biggest Jewish population in the world and they’re some of the world’s greatest craftsmen. Rome is fussy, of course, they’re the most sophisticated there. So I’ll bring that back to the Roman market where it’ll be far more fashionable and fetch
She wearily stood. “Oh Pegasus! Mark Antony and I were lost at sea!”
“You look safely landed, to me.” Octavian took her to a cart that was selling bread by the slice. “Any sign of him?”
She sadly shook her head. Tears came to her eyes as she put her hand on her heart.
“Oh he’s alive, I’m sure. I’m not so lucky to be rid of him yet. I bet his jealousy for me is keeping him alive, if anything. Hate is very powerful.”
Phaedra said, “Oh no, Mark thinks of you like a brother. He told me that when I first met him on the road to your villa.”
Octavian looked doubting. “He’s only kind when he owes me money. Why did you leave my villa so quickly with him? Did you take to the sea with him willingly?”
She said she had.
Octavian pressed, “He didn’t kidnap you?”
“No such intrigue. He was too nice but that was all.”
Octavian nodded. “He’s always had such bad luck with his endeavors with ships. But that doesn’t mean he actually drowned—not enough to be dead. In all of his sea battles he spent all the time of the fight floating around like a harmless piece of wood.”
Phaedra wondered about that.
“Oh yes.” He chuckled. “Once, as Mark led the charge in the Tyrrhenian Sea, as he jumped from his ship to the ship of the foe, he missed. He floated for two days until he bumped into an island of Corsica.”
She dabbed at her eyes.
“Don’t cry.”
Phaedra knelt on the beach and scooped up sand in both hands. She watched it slowly flow from her fingers. She said, “Tears on my fingers, sand through my hand. Is impermanence now grounded? Did time take him to land?”
“What witchcraft is that?”
“I do feel as if he’s alive. But how? The sea is so very cruel and deep.”
Octavian looked up to the sky. The air was full of gulls. “The gods toy with men like Mark Antony. He’s the perfect type of man to give them many laughs. And the gods seem kinder to you. They’ve given you to me.”
“The gods? They gave me to you? Oh my Pegasus!”
He nodded.
Phaedra stood again, brushing sand from her knees. “Being a Roman citizen does have its advantages when traveling.”
“The luck is all mine. I don’t know what I would have done without you. Bluff, I guess. I’ve done that plenty of times before. But I’ve also gambled away my purse that way.”
Phaedra was baffled. “How could I be of any real importance to you?”
Octavian told her, “I need your expertise as a merchant. I’ve gone out on a limb… until you, until now.”
“Oh, you don’t need me.”
“Now that Mark has lost half my cargo, and who knows when he’ll pay me back, I do need you this frugal hour.”
Phaedra didn’t believe him. “A man of your importance shouldn’t have to need anybody.”
Octavian divulged, “It’s rather fun, actually, shipping contraband about for quick cash.”
“You need quick cash?”
Octavian looked pained. “I always need cash. I’m tired of waiting for the taxes from all the farmers on my lands. And that isn’t quick cash. But anyway, I traded a pile of Greek furniture for a much bigger pile of Persian furniture that went through Syria and ended up in Sicily. Since we’re at war with Persia it’s all verboten in Rome. But if I switch it with an even bigger pile of Hindu furniture while I’m in Alexandria I make even more profits.”
Phaedra asked, “What would Hindu furniture be doing in a Greek city in Egypt?”
“Alexandria has a huge Hindu population, although the furniture might have been made by the people of Moses. Alexandria has the biggest Jewish population in the world and they’re some of the world’s greatest craftsmen. Rome is fussy, of course, they’re the most sophisticated there. So I’ll bring that back to the Roman market where it’ll be far more fashionable and fetch
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