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We made our way carefully down the stone stairs, but it was difficult as they were poorly litPothinus grabbed a torch froht the way

"Is Iras here?"I questioned again"Where are we going?"

An earthy, er the further doe descendedIt see from somewhere, but I couldn’t see where

"Don’t worry about it,"the eunuch growled "You’ll knoe get there"

Apprehension began a slow build in ot away from anyone who could helpat best and I quickly felt to see ifaround my neckAnd of course it wasI would have noticed if such a large rock had dropped off

"Your queen is a nuisance,"he announced quietly as we continued feeling our way down the stairs"Do you have any idea how long she and I have battled for the throne?She’s like a pesky fly… never giving up"

"Is that what this is about?Have you soed to cheat death… because you want the throne?"I couldn’t conceal my amazeht you knew everything"

"Oh, I’ ti"

"Annen made me a promise,"Pothinus snarled "And I intend to hold him to it"

"Then by all ypt, just know thisCleopatra will not give up the throne to youShe won’t do it"

"She won’t have a choice,"he replied sive up,"I pointed out"She hasn’t given up on a single thing since she was born It’s not in her natureShe is quite willing to fight for what is right"

He growled again"What is right!?Isn’t that a ed"But her priority has always been what is right for EgyptI would iine that is far different from yours"

"You know far less than you think you do,"he sneered as we finally neared the botto as I looked aroundWe appeared to be in a narrow canal, musty and dark, surrounded on both sides by y was moored next to us

Pothinus shoved me toward it

"Get in!"he demanded

For the first time, I resistedI stood fir?"

He s vision in the dark"Don’t question meDo you want to see Iras alive?"

I considered the situation brieflyOf course I wanted to see Iras aliveBut I also knew that I needed to et half of history right, at the very least He saw the uncertainty on et in the boat,"he growledAs he spoke, I saw a glint of ht that he had a weapon, but I was mistakenHe had a knifeI suddenly wished that I had strapped a dagger to ht of that?

I mutely stepped into the rickety little boat and sat on the botto my backAs Pothinus stepped in, the boat rocked vicariously to one side frorabbed the sides to brace ers turned nuh the little boat remained sunken quite a bit on his end

He picked up a wooden oar and began rowing smoothly down the murky canalJust a few eway He rowed our boat into it and we cahtly lit by at least twenty torchesCleopatra’s resplendent golden barge was floating peacefully in front of us, filling up irth

I was astonishedI had never actually wondered where they stored the royal barge when it wasn’t in use, but now that I thought about it, of course it made sense to keep it hidden… both for the safety of the queen and because it was expensiveHer barge was plated in goldI couldn’t ied to float it fro those secret canal-ways

As ed up to it, I ance was unparalleled anywhere in the worldThree tientle light of the torchesIts htly rolled, but the thick richness of the cloth was apparent even froy

Silver oars were visible on racks and a portable jeweled throne sat on the mast, in exactly the spot that Cleopatra liked to sit while the barge was rowed down the NileTypically, several servants dressed as sea nymphs fanned her as we sailed Cleopatra liked to say that I was dramatic, but honestly, she was as well She had a flair for perforood spectacle And whenever we took out this ht, a ot closer

"Iras?"I called uncertainlyMy voice echoed through the large roo it seeot louder and n to me that it was, in fact, Iras

"What have you done with her?"I deh"

"She’s not a whore, you disgusting pig,"I said through clenched teeth"Where is she?"

He ignored e shipHe moored it and we climbed out, but turned abruptly to walk up the extended plank of the bargeThe moagged and laying directly on the plated gold deck of the bargeHer dark eyes flashed to nized meHer body instantly went still as she waited to see ould happen