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"My lady, when did you ever take vows?You were si Your vows, so to speak, were inherent"

My throat tightenedHow right he wasI had certainly never chosen

"But you can change it,"he added"The bloodstone is very, very powerfulUsing it, you can change your situationYou can disavow the Order and live a noredyIf you choose,"he added

"I aht er be… and to ht Pothinus here as well, and now the treacherous snake has stolen my bloodstone"

"Ah, Pothinus the eunuch,"Annen sighed"That poor soul is lostHe is evil through and throughThere’s no hope for him"

Bewildered, I stared at him"Then ould you reveal the Order’s secrets to hi,"he objected, his black eyes flashing"Before he died, he unearthed secret scrolls that ell-hidden, scrolls about the OrderHe already knewI only brought him here so that you could see that if you chose a different path, it wouldn’t "

He stared at Cleopatra"I’m sorry, my queenI have failed you"

"Why do you say that?"Cleopatra asked softly

She had seated herself behind Annen’s desk, her slender legs curled beneath herAs she spoke, she sifted absently through the piles of scrolls

She unrolled another scroll, gazing at the scrawling Egyptian written in bold, black inkI only caught a gliasped and hurried around the desk, gathering it away froers

"I’ic that is erous for you to be exposed to"He quickly rolled it back up and stacked it with thethe wall behind hierous, Annen, perhaps you should not leave it out in the open,"Cleopatra adhtly, but she didn’t ask any further questions about itShe turned to me

"Charmian, what else would you like to ask this priest?"Her face was drenched in weariness and I foundthat I could take her concern away for herBut I couldn’t, because I felt it et back home if we can’t retrieve my bloodstone from the eunuch And I’d like to retrieve it before he uses it for soht you knewYour bloodstone is tied to you, in every wayThere is no way that Pothinus can use theitOn that same note, there is also no way that you can leave here without it"

I felt a lead weight drop into my stomach and I stared wordlessly at hithat I have worked for for so long"

He nodded miserably"Yes, my ladyI knowI have failed our queen and I have failed youI meant only to help, to help you escape what killed my mother…"his voice trailed off as he dropped to his knees, his ancient back curving as he groveled at Cleopatra’s feet

"Please forgive ed"I did not mean to inflict this onto you"

"Please stand,"she asked, pulling at his arm"We need your help now, not theatrics I am sure you meant no harm"

He raised sad eyes to her"No, my queen, I meant only to help I saw the future and I kneould happen if I did nothingBut now it is being used against Egypt and I am very sorry for that"

"You meant no harm,"I murmured"What else can you tell us?"

"What else would you like to know?"He rose slowly to his feet and folded his hands in front of hiht from the laet my bloodstone back from PothinusSpeed is of the essence now I will discuss the secrets of the Order withyou later… I am curious as to what you know that I do not But for now, I need aze froain, eerily cal

"My lady, I will happily speak to you at any tiht now is certainly direMaybe even more so than you realize"

Cleopatra and I eyed each other apprehensivelyHow could it be even more dire?

He turned to faceaze was drawn to the large black discs in his earlobesThey had to be at least two inches in dia It narled hands and wrinkled face, I tried to iain with his onyx stare and opened his mouth, but whatever he was about to say was interrupted when another priest quickly entered the chambers

"Annen, we require your assistanceThutmose has fallen- his ankle is brokenI can see the boneCan you bring your herbs? We need to make a poultice to wrap it with"With a quick bow to Cleopatra, the other priest was back out the doors and Annen turned once again to us

"I’m sorry, my ladiesMy services are requiredBut we can discuss this further at a later date"

"How about this evening?"Cleopatra suggested"Please cohtWe can discuss it further thenAs you know, tihnessIt would be athered a few foul-s jars from the dark shelves behind himWe followed him out and e came to a T in the hallway, he turned to , CharmianIf you should die while you are back here, every life you have had in the interiiant rips in the fabric of ti hundreds of livesYoumy eyesEndeavor not to dieWas he serious?

My shoulders slumped as Cleopatra and I walked back toward the tunnels I don’t knohat I had been hoping for, but it certainly wasn’t thisI wanted answers and an idea of how to acquire the bloodstone from PothinusWhat I had received was an evenmy own life

We were back to square one

As Cleopatra and I stepped into the shadowed underground passage, she turned to me, her beautiful face serious and composed