The Dark Evolution Chronicles

by Cassandra Di Rossi

  “I won. Now I am truly queen!” She grinned, hugging herself as a small child might.

  Rejoicing and singing spread from the docks and into the city. Then, she was running through the library and out onto the street to greet her people. Artemis and I hurried after her.

  As she stepped out through the library door, people bowed and before her. Children ran to her, holding out flowers, parents cheering and chanting for her long life. The torches were relit and the light made the city gold and bright. She stopped on the steps and held out her arms to her people.

  “Thank you. Thank you,” she said with great confidence. A soldier stepped up onto the step below her and fell to his knees. He was holding out a beautiful purple cloak.

  “Caesar’s your majesty!” he said, daring to look up at his queen.

  She clapped her hands together in delight and grabbed it to her chest. But the childish glee lasted only a moment. She gathered her composure, straightened her body, pulled back her shoulders, raised her chin and returned the cape to the solider.

  “Have it flown from the battlements of Pharos as a symbol of our victory over Rome.” Her voice was every bit as regal as she looked.

  *

  The celebrations rolled on right through the next day and into the following night. For a while, we honestly thought we were safe and Caesar was gone for good. But then rumours began to circulate that he had been rescued, fished out from the sea like a wriggling eel, and ushered away to safety by Cleopatra’s men. Yet nothing happened. No counter-attack was made and Cleopatra stayed silent.

  We moved back to the palace and for a year we lived in peace. Her brother Ptolemy XIII acted as co-regent to add strength to her claim. The boy was weak and would have been ineffective as a king in his own right. He did little but sit around and look useless, whereas Arsinoe ruled as well as any pharaoh had done before her. And yet, tensions with Rome could not be quelled.

  A year and a week after her ascension to the throne of all Egypt fighting broke out in the streets once more. Even Arsinoe’s soldiers began to disagree on what should be done next. She ordered her brother into exile for his own safety. But instead, he took fright and attempted an escape across the Nile.

  “I am sorry your highness, there is nothing we could do.” Ganymedes was standing before us, head bowed and one arm folded over his chest, helmet in his hand.

  “Drowned!” Arsinoe barked. “How could this happen? You were supposed to see him safely into Kush. He was supposed to be holed up in some borderland fortress by now.”

  “I truly am sorry, Your Highness. His boat sank so fast. It was weighed down by all the…” he cleared his throat nervously, “gold he insisted in taking.’

  Arsinoe raised her eyes to the ceiling and folded her arms.

  “Stupid child!” she grumbled with a sigh. Despite her irritation, she was fighting back tears. For a moment she paused, perhaps in sorrow or perhaps in contemplation. Then she blinked back the sting in her eyes and swallowed. “Well there is little can be done about it now,” she said slowly. “You may go.” But the general didn’t move. She raised an eyebrow.

  “What else is there?” her voice was cautious and calmer than she looked. The room waited with anticipation. The only sound was the gentle wafting of the great palm-leaf fan and the serving boys laboured breathing as he worked it.

  Ganymedes sighed,

  “Fresh Roman troops have a gathered on the eastern edge of the city.”

  Arsinoe’s jaw tightened and she clasped her hands together to hide that they were shaking.

  “Where did they come from?” Artemis cocked her head at the general and narrowed her eyes.

  “They say Damascus,” he did not dare to look at my cousin any more than he dared look at his queen at that moment. The general knew full well what we were. He shifted his stance and waited for a response.

  “It matters not where they came from. What matters is that we are prepared for them. Gather our men at the Sun Gate and have them ready to charge on the camp at nightfall.” Arsinoe was thinking fast but had not the military experience of a general.

  “Your majesty, pulling together a militia to take over the palace and manage the city is one thing, but taking on a full insurgence of experienced soldiers is entirely another. Especially when we are facing the might of Rome.” Ganymedes gulped the last few words. Arsinoe pursed her lips in frustration.

  “Are you saying we cannot win?” she accused.

  The general edged away from her.

  “Roman soldiers are a well-trained machine, your highness. Right now we have enough trouble keeping our army from fighting each other. Getting them all together to take on Caesar again will be… difficult.”

  “Difficult! You are Egyptians. We are a great nation,” her whole body was shaking then. I was not sure if it was out of anger or fear.

  I laid a hand upon her arm,

  “Your majesty, perhaps we should listen to the general’s alternative suggestions,” I advised quietly. Ganymedes I noticed widened his eyes. I realized that he had no other ideas. Arsinoe turned on me. She was short in stature, even for a human of her years. She stared up at me with a growing look of interest that unnerved me. I forced a smile as she parted her lips to speak, her eyes glinting with an idea that I knew I was not going to like.

  “The Seer of Troy. I had almost forgotten your gift. Come, tell me, what is to be the outcome of all this. You can see the future, so tell us, what will happen if we take arms tonight?”

  I took a long breath in and out.

  “It does not work like that, your majesty. I cannot tell you what will happen if you do this, or that, I can only see what will be at the end.”

  “But destiny can be changed can it not, should a different decision be made?” She fluttered her eyelids at me and smiled. Sometimes I could see in her, how her sister had beguiled Rome so easily. The difference with Arsinoe as her kindness was genuine, whereas Cleopatra's was most certainly not.

  I rolled my eyes,

  “Perhaps. But I cannot tell the difference. If I tell you what I see now, it may be the most likely outcome of your initial choice, or it may be the outcome of your final decision should you change your mind.”

  Her face fell.

  “What use it that?” she grumbled. “Try anyway, please,” she added sweetly.

  Ignoring the wide-eyed glare Artemis shot me, I closed my eyes and pictured Caesar’s men in their garrison by the eastern gate. But instead of Alexandria, I saw Gaza as it had once fallen. I gritted my teeth as I was forced to watch the battle once more. I tried not to feel the fear in little David’s heart as he watched his city collapse around him.

  I saw him raise his arm and point, just as he had when I had asked him where his guardian had gone. I felt my heartbeats hasten as I followed his gaze and saw a glint of blond hair and the flash of a blade in the sunlight.

  Why was I seeing this? It was no more than a passage from a history book by then. I knew not what it meant. But then, the David in this new vision did something he had not done the first time I had seen it. He whispered, ‘it is the end.’

  Then I knew. For him, it had been Alexander’s men that had taken his city down. It had been a battle that had led to the Greek rule of Egypt. He had been there at an end and a new beginning. Now it was the Romans come to take Alexandria in its turn. The vision was a warning. Egypt would fall once more. The Romans would win no matter how Arsinoe chose to act. I knew not how to tell our young queen. I opened my eyes.

  “We should run your majesty. Leave now, before we cannot.”

  Arsinoe stared at me. She looked me right in the eyes without fear.

  “I shall do no such thing. I cannot be a coward. I will keep this country under Egyptian rule or I shall die trying.”

  I had expected this reaction, yet I had given my advice anyway. What I had seen would come to pass. Nothing that I said or Arsinoe did, would change it. I could only pray that we could save her life.

  In the
hours that followed, the general mustered what troops he could and the Roman numbers increased as more men arrived at the camp. When the moment came for the battle we retreated to what we hoped was the safety of the library, watching from the roof, waiting with hearts in our mouths.

  And when the Roman soldiers broke down our door we stood, strong and together. Artemis and I shielded Arsinoe and fought against them as best we could. But we were so far outnumbered, there was little we could do but protect the princess from harm. We allowed ourselves to be taken into custardy with her in the hope that our presence would keep her alive.

  And it did. Caesar took Alexandria and could have taken Egypt with it. But to my surprise, instead, he placed Cleopatra back on the throne.

  Cleopatra took one look at Artemis and me, pale-eyed and hungry, and any notion to have Arsinoe executed immediately were removed.

  “Banished, to where?” Cleopatra bellowed.

  This was the first time I had laid eyes upon the elder sibling. Like Arsinoe, she was short in stature, though a little heavier. Her mixed heritage gave her a similar exotic beauty, save for her long nose. The younger sister was assuredly the prettier of the two. But perhaps that is a biased view since the one was a far more compassionate person than the other.

  Cleopatra was staring at Caesar with her arms folded and her black eyes narrowed. She looked like a serpent ready to snap its jaws, and had a charm over the Roman Emperor that would not easily be undone. We were standing in her bedchamber. Arsinoe was tied up on her knees before her sister. She was glaring up at her defiantly. Artemis and I were behind her, tightly restrained by several guards.

  Caesar scratched at his neck. The room was hot, sticky and the smell of burning rose oil was near choking. He swallowed uncomfortably.

  “Rome,” he said at last. “I will take her back to Rome with me, make an example of her. She is, after all, a traitor to us as well as to Egypt.”

  Cleopatra brightened a little at this idea. She threaded her fingers together and swung back o her heels thoughtfully.

  “And you will execute her there?” she said, after a few moments consideration.

  “Send her to Ephesus” Artemis butted it. I shot her a nervous glance. I was not certain if Caesar or his soldiers knew how to kill a Vampyr, but I was not willing to test them on the subject. Caesar turned to her slowly.

  “Send her to the Artemisian with me,” Artemis continued. “We will live there in exile together. We…” she nodded sideways at me. “We will keep her there for the rest of her natural life. She will never be in your way or challenge you again,” she was almost begging. Caesar could feel her desperation.

  “Certainly not,” Cleopatra answered for him. “My sister will go to Rome and face the consequences of her treason.” The venom in her words spat out from her mouth, leaving angry spittle on her lips.

  I sighed. I knew any other argument was futile, at least for now. The new queen’s gaze kept flickering in my direction, and I knew she was deciding if I was the one she had been looking for in Memphis. I saved her the trouble of asking.

  “My visions cannot help you your majesty, but know this; you will give birth to a Pharaoh, but you shall be the last ruler of Egypt.” It was a deliberately cryptic message. And despite my dislike of her, I could not bring myself to tell her that her son would be murdered at only seventeen, nor that she would come to her own tragic end when the world around her fell apart.

  It would have been futile to warn her to stay away from Marcus Antonius, or to take great care when dealing with Rome. The dynasties of Egypt were about to die out, and the great nation as it had once been would be gone for good in less than twenty years. This would happen regardless of any warning. Some things are best left unknown and unsaid.

  Cleopatra watched my expression carefully, yet without looking me in the eyes, as her sister would have done.

  “Take them all to Rome,” she said with such coldness I felt a shiver run right up from the base of my spine right up into my hair. Artemis felt it too for I saw her flinch.

  Arsinoe got her to feet and shrugged away the grip of the guards. She left without fight or argument, for she knew it would be futile, yet she could maintain her dignity. She walked from the room, arms tied behind her back and ankles shackled like a slave, yet the look of calm poise on her face made Cleopatra seethe.

  *

  We set sail the very next day. As we stood on the deck beneath the canopy I watched Egypt disappear into the horizon. Though I knew I would not see her again for many years, I could never have imagined that it would be quite so long as it turned out to be. But we must come back to that in due course.

  The journey was long and arduous. I shall spare you the details, but needless to say, rats are not my friends. Artemis and I were half-starved and desperate by the time we reached Portus. From there we were transported immediately upriver to Rome where we were placed directly into a prison cell. We three were to be held there until Caesars Triumphal parade. Arsinoe was to be the star of his show. It was an unwelcome honour that was set to end in her public strangulation.

  The prison was a series of dank cells with a filthy rat-infested stone floor, high brick walls and thick barred gates to each chamber. There were no windows for any light, only a small high slit in the wall to let in some air. The stench of human excrement and piss was so strong it made your head ache and your eyes water.

  Our cell was heavily fortified and guarded by no less than three soldiers at any one time. We were the celebrity guests. Caesar even paid us a personal visit. He stood outside the cell with a scented rag over his nose, and his toga held up by a slave so that the hem did not touch the vile puddles on the floor. His beady eyes glared at us through the bars, and the light from his lamp glinted from his bald head. It was a blisteringly hot cell, the heat radiated from the bricks like a smouldering fire, coating the walls with a mouldy damp sweat. Caesar dabbed at his forehead with his nose-cloth and took a step forward.

  “You,” he pointed at me. I swallowed and raised my eyes to meet his. “Yes, you. The seer. You will come with me.”

  I backed away further into the corner so that I was pressed against and wall. A rat scurried past, giving me as wide a berth as it could manage in the confined space. My mind was foggy from the rodent diet, but against my will, my stomach rumbled at the smell of the creature.

  Caesar clicked his fingers at one of the guards,

  “Get her out, but take care. She is stronger than you think.”

  The guard knew this already, for it was he that had wrestled me into the cell in the first place. He rubbed at the bite mark on his shoulder from where I had almost got the better of him. He glanced at me through the dim light. I smiled coldly so that my teeth were bared and my eyes blank. I could see him shift his stance and his hand twitched over his keys.

  “Now,” Caesar barked with irritation. The guard edged closer to the bars but hesitated before sliding the key into the lock. Caesar gave him a hard shove in the centre of his back. The guard lurched forward so that the key missed its hole and his arm shot inside the cell. Artemis had been waiting in anticipation. Her reflexes were faster than his, despite the hunger. Before he knew what had happened she had twisted his arm and slammed it hard against the bar. He bellowed in pain as she bit down upon his wrist, snatching the key from his fingers. Caesar staggered back in horror, knocking the slave boy onto the floor so that he released the Emperor’s gown into the putrid mud. The boy scrambled to his feet as Caesar swung a slap to the back of his head.

  “Grab him,” he yelled, waking the other guards from their apparent stupor.

  There was a moment of grappling and then the guards fell backwards, tearing the flesh off the victim’s arm as he tumbled away from Artemis. Blood spurted from the vein as it pulsed. He slapped his other hand over the wound, but the blood seeped through and covered his arms and uniform in hot sticky red. The scent was consuming.

  My teeth sharpened and my body ached. I leapt towards them with no
thought, crashing against the gate. Caesar stared, repulsed. But then, as I reached through the bars in desperation, he straightened himself up and drew a determined breath.

  “Forget him. Get her!” he bellowed at the other guards.

  The next thing I knew was being dragged out from the prison into the blazing brightness of the sun. I was dizzy and weak already. When my skin began to blister and peel I felt nothing but a blur of pain and confusion. I passed out within moments and was aware of nothing more until I awoke in a grand room at Caesar's palace.

  “Drink from the cup,” someone said. I could hear they were far enough away from me to be safe. I forced my eyes fully open and turned my head to see the Emperor perched on a chair at the other side of the room. I tried to move but I was tied down at the waist and ankles. Only my left hand was free. “On the table,” he added, gesturing to my left. I licked at my parched lips, as I smelled the contents of the large gold cup. I reached for it too quickly; catching the table and making it rock dangerously on its thin wooden legs.

  “Don’t spill it. There will be no more unless you agree to help me.”

  Carefully I lifted the cup and brought it to my lips, letting the thick red liquid pour down my throat. The blood was from a pig. It is an animal I prefer not to drink, but at that moment I did not care where the blood came from as long as it was fresh and quenched my parched body. As I drank my veins pumped less painfully and my vision began to clear.

  When the cup was drained I set it down and looked over at Caesar. The room was very grand. The walls were lavishly draped in cloth of deep purple and gold thread. In every corner of the room was a great lamp that made the guilt furniture gleam. On a pedestal directly behind Caesar was bust of his likeness. I almost laughed, for from my line of sight it made him appear as though he had two heads.

  “I have to tell you that I hold little faith in soothsayers, but I have been told that you have a reputation for accuracy.”