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Authors: Stephanie Dray
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man!”
“He’s a magician and a priest of Isis,” Agrippa growled. “The Isiac priesthood is nothing but a den of witches, warlocks, and whores. Curse the day a soldier like Antony fell into their clutches.” At the mention of my father, Agrippa’s features twisted with sadness and regret. It took him a moment to recover, and when he did, he changed the subject entirely. “Where is Caesarion?”
At last, Helios and I exchanged glances. This question was unexpected and we both knew what it meant. If the Romans didn’t know where Caesarion was, my oldest brother had escaped, after all. My heart soared with hope.
“The King of Egypt is in exile,” Helios said.
“In exile where?” Agrippa asked.
“ We don’t know where,” I replied. For that much was true. But wherever he was, Caesarion would raise an army to rescue us. Men would rally to him in the name of his dead father, Julius Caesar—the real Caesar.
Agrippa seemed to know it. “Is Caesarion still here in Alexandria? Will you tell me or will I have to burn down every house in the city to find him?”
The way Agrippa’s face was lined with rage convinced us he was willing to do just that, so I said, “We don’t know where he is. My mother wouldn’t tell us.” And I tried not to betray my smugness. Julius Caesar had been invincible in battle, falling only to the knives of treasonous assassins. Would not the gods shine on his son? Caesarion would save us!
Agrippa growled. “If you’re lying to me, I’ll see you crucified, royalty or no. Your mother’s last wish was for an honorable funeral and to be interred beside your father. For reasons that escape me, my lord has granted her request. Were it up to me, I’d dump her body in the Nile for the crocodiles and you children along with her.”
Just then, Agrippa’s eyes drifted to the far wall where a banner hung beside my mother’s bed. Upon that banner was emblazoned our Ptolemy family motto: Win or Die.
I had been looking in the wrong place for a note from my mother. It was not among her papers but here, on the wall, a message for her enemies, and for her children both. Beneath it, we stood as regal as my mother expected us to be. Knowing that Caesarion was alive, we stared at Agrippa as if he were contemptible rabble. The gods would smite him as surely as he breathed.
Helios took my hand, protectively, and I held Philadelphus in my other arm. We stood before the Roman, staring, but silent. We were Ptolemies.
“You’re unnatural,” Agrippa said. With that, the admiral slammed out of my mother’s chambers leaving behind him wood splinters, blood, and frightened children.
To Purchase LILY OF THE NILE please visit any bookstore or visit StephanieDray.com
<<<<>>>>
“He’s a magician and a priest of Isis,” Agrippa growled. “The Isiac priesthood is nothing but a den of witches, warlocks, and whores. Curse the day a soldier like Antony fell into their clutches.” At the mention of my father, Agrippa’s features twisted with sadness and regret. It took him a moment to recover, and when he did, he changed the subject entirely. “Where is Caesarion?”
At last, Helios and I exchanged glances. This question was unexpected and we both knew what it meant. If the Romans didn’t know where Caesarion was, my oldest brother had escaped, after all. My heart soared with hope.
“The King of Egypt is in exile,” Helios said.
“In exile where?” Agrippa asked.
“ We don’t know where,” I replied. For that much was true. But wherever he was, Caesarion would raise an army to rescue us. Men would rally to him in the name of his dead father, Julius Caesar—the real Caesar.
Agrippa seemed to know it. “Is Caesarion still here in Alexandria? Will you tell me or will I have to burn down every house in the city to find him?”
The way Agrippa’s face was lined with rage convinced us he was willing to do just that, so I said, “We don’t know where he is. My mother wouldn’t tell us.” And I tried not to betray my smugness. Julius Caesar had been invincible in battle, falling only to the knives of treasonous assassins. Would not the gods shine on his son? Caesarion would save us!
Agrippa growled. “If you’re lying to me, I’ll see you crucified, royalty or no. Your mother’s last wish was for an honorable funeral and to be interred beside your father. For reasons that escape me, my lord has granted her request. Were it up to me, I’d dump her body in the Nile for the crocodiles and you children along with her.”
Just then, Agrippa’s eyes drifted to the far wall where a banner hung beside my mother’s bed. Upon that banner was emblazoned our Ptolemy family motto: Win or Die.
I had been looking in the wrong place for a note from my mother. It was not among her papers but here, on the wall, a message for her enemies, and for her children both. Beneath it, we stood as regal as my mother expected us to be. Knowing that Caesarion was alive, we stared at Agrippa as if he were contemptible rabble. The gods would smite him as surely as he breathed.
Helios took my hand, protectively, and I held Philadelphus in my other arm. We stood before the Roman, staring, but silent. We were Ptolemies.
“You’re unnatural,” Agrippa said. With that, the admiral slammed out of my mother’s chambers leaving behind him wood splinters, blood, and frightened children.
To Purchase LILY OF THE NILE please visit any bookstore or visit StephanieDray.com
<<<<>>>>
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