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especially important he study. With a roll of his eyes, Philadelphus said, “You aren’t my tutor. Let’s not spoil our last hours together with serious things.”
    I winced, knowing that he was no longer the baby brother who hid in my skirts. No longer the boy who cried with fear when the Romans took us prisoner, nor the boy who shook with sweat and fever. He was eleven years old now, as old as I’d been when I came to Rome. Even so, leaving him here as a hostage for my good behavior felt like the worst kind of betrayal and I hated myself for it even if I had no other choice. “Promise me that you’ll study hard to make yourself useful to the emperor, Philadelphus.”
    “Oh, stop fretting,” Philadelphus said with a brave smile. “Come be a sister to me. We’ll play knucklebones until Juba returns.” Like my father, Philadelphus possessed an easygoing charm. With his thick auburn curls and aquiline nose, he looked every bit the Roman boy, and I hoped this would protect him when I was gone. I let his brave smile melt my resistance and followed him back to the bedchambers that he’d once shared with Helios. We sat together on his sleeping couch and the cat jumped up between us, watching my brother rattle the tali dice inside a wooden cup. “Are you going to take Bast with you, Selene?”
    Reaching down to pet her soft fur, I remembered that our cat belonged more to Helios than to either of us. Maybe that’s why I so badly wanted to bring her to Africa with me. Now I pushed away that selfish urge. “She should stay with you and watch over you . . . You know that I don’t want to go without you, don’t you? I don’t want to leave you, Philadelphus!”
    “But you must,” my brother said, fingering the Collar of Gold amulet at his throat. Like the jade frog I wore, it was the last thing my mother had ever given him. The moment she put it around his neck, he seemed to possess the gift of sight. “I’ve seen it in the Rivers of Time, Selene. You always leave and I always stay in Rome.”
    Philadelphus’s hidden power was strong, but I refused to believe he saw truly. “You’re wrong. Someday, we’re both going back to Egypt.”
    He smiled weakly, swirling the dice. “I think I’ve almost seen it that way once . . . Nothing in the future is certain but the more often I see something, the more likely it’s true. I’ve seen you become a great queen. You help to bring about a Golden Age. You feed the people and save Isis.”
    I saw his eyes slide away. “Is that the only thing you’ve seen? Will I be forced to fight Helios?”
    He shrugged, letting the dice fall to the mattress between us. All ones. The Vulture. The lowest throw. “I don’t know, but sometimes I’ve seen that you’re a cause of war in Egypt . . . and that your life ends too soon.”
    We both shuddered and I scooped up the dice, putting them back in the cup and laying my hand over the top. “Don’t look into the Rivers of Time anymore, Philadelphus. You know how the Romans feel about magic. I won’t be here to protect you.”
    “It’s not something I can control.” I knew what he meant, for my own powers—when I had them—were wild and beyond my grasp. Hieroglyphic messages from Isis carved themselves into my hands when I touched the blood of the faithful, but I hadn’t been able to control the winds that sometimes swirled when I was upset. I’d used them once, when Livia slapped me, to throw her to the ground, but since my bargain with the emperor, the winds had been still.
    “Just be careful, then, Philadelphus. Write me letters. Lots of letters. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume the worst.” He must understand how fragile his safety was. As he grew older, he’d be seen as a danger—a son of Antony and Cleopatra for all the emperor’s enemies to exploit. “We’re the last of the Ptolemies. Do whatever you must to survive. If you ever need to betray me, I’ll never blame you for it. If I fall from the