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I step onto an athletic training field. At first I assume this is an ordinary dream because the arena is so Greek in appearance. There is various equipment strewn about and several eastern horses graze unconcernedly near the perimeter. Two raise their heads and flick their tails at my appearance, but they soon return to the grass. I walk over to a rack of weapons: bows, swords, spears, shields, and a basket full of military daggers. I pick up one of the bows and pull the string back tight across my chest. It is taut and the bow springy.
I try to envision a target and one manifests a hundred paces away. I string an arrow, and relax my eye until the target is barely even a consideration anymore. The arrow sings through the air and lands slightly to the left of the bullseye.
"Tolerable, but what will you do if there is no bow to be had, Ptolemy-daughter?"
I turn my head eastward and watch a lithe figure approaching with a hunting hawk perched on its outstretched arm and a black saluki trotting on its heels. Upon seeing me, the saluki breaks into a run. As it reaches me, I can see it is not a dog but the sha, and in one fluid motion mid-stride the beast transforms into my Lord. He grins and embraces me as his companion reaches us.
She is slender, yet every fiber of her being emanates raw power. Her proud, high cheekbones are offset by burning amber eyes that flash under a mantle of long dark hair. She wears the head of a lioness skin as a hooded cloak like Heracles. She does not wear the long sheath dress of the goddesses, but a scarlet man's kilt and short-sleeved shirt piece, covered by an armored breastplate, with Roman-style military sandals rather than bare feet.
She needs no introduction, but Lord Set gives one anyway. "Arsinoë, this is Lady Sekhmet."
Her lips curl back enough to show the gleam of sharp white teeth, her voice as black as a panther's growl. "I am here to give you a warrior's training, Ptolemy-daughter. If you can be taught," she adds with a slightly doubtful air.
"She is young, but she possesses great strength of will, Sekhmet," Set defends me chidingly.
The lion goddess circles me closely. I can feel her catching my scent. I try not think of her terrible epithets and hope I smell braver than I feel. Finally, the long inspection ends.
"I have worked with less in full-grown pharaohs," she concedes, taking a few steps back. "Much less a girl-child princess. She has a supple build for one raised in a palace," she pauses to glance at my torso, "and her breasts are not so large as to be a hindrance."
I blush at this, but neither god takes any notice.
She continues. "I have been told you can ride, child, and I can see you have some facility with a bow. But the enemy has many more weapons at their disposal. I will show you how the spear glides through the air, even if you never throw one. How to wield a sword as if it were simply another part of your arm. How to protect yourself in close combat with hardened soldiers."
"I give thanks for your instruction, my lady," I murmur.
Lady Sekhmet shrugs her arm and the hawk takes flight with a piercing screech as it soars off into the blazing sun. The goddess stalks over to me and holds her hands on my shoulders. "These are the preliminaries. I will also teach you to think like a general. To find your advantages and how to press them. To understand how the wind fills the sails of ships in a battle. To speak to troops so that they will attend to your voice. To lead, Ptolemy-daughter."
I feel the strength of her arms and I find my courage. "Where do we begin, my lady?"
"At the beginning, child. Let us see how easily you hit those bow targets at a gallop."
I jog over to the horses and vault onto the back of the closest one by grabbing a fistful of its mane with my free hand. I kick it into a canter as I ride past the weapons rack and reach down for another arrow as we pass. I notch the arrow to the bow as my heels ask the stallion for a gallop. We surge forward and I steady my arm as we fly to pass the target. I keep Ganymedes' voice in my head, telling me to wait for my moment. Just as we start to go by the target, I twist and take my aim. I exhale as the arrow leaves my hand.
And then I wake up.
I went out to the stables, looking for a way to duck the venom-tinged atmosphere inside the palace walls where my brother and his friends whispered in corners amongst themselves and Cleopatra shut herself up in her rooms after the murder of Damianus, speaking to no one. My horse, Erebus, stuck his head out of his stall testily, though he relaxed when he caught my scent in his flaring nostrils. I reached up and rubbed his forehead affectionately. Without warning his ears flattened back and he made an angry squeal deep in his throat. I moved my hand away, thinking he was in one of his moods, when a hand appeared over my mouth and a blade was at my throat.
"If you cry out, I swear on the bones of my ancestors I will cut you from ear to ear."
I jerked my head away from the blade and met the calm gaze of Apollodorus. Erebus screamed with rage and slammed his heavy body into the stall door. Apollodorus lifted the dagger from my throat and in one practiced move swung his arm up slicing open the windpipe of my horse. The black stallion shrieked, blood spraying from the gash until he fell thickly against the wall. I moaned from behind his hand and struggled to get away. The Sicilian tightened his grip and shoved the now bloody weapon back to my throat.
"In case you thought I wasn't serious. Now stop squirming and start walking."
He half dragged me away to the other part of the stables where the camels were kept. I was weeping and trying to think of a way to break Apollodorus' hold on me when we rounded a corner, nearly colliding with Mudjet.
"My lady!" she cried, looking wildly between my captor and me.
"Hush, Mudjet," said Apollodorus pointing the dripping dagger at her. "Keep quiet and follow us, or I'll flay open our little princess right here."
I begged Mudjet with my eyes to run for help, though hers answered mine back she was too afraid to call the Sicilian's bluff.
We were hurried along until we found my sister packing up camels and horses with Kharmion and a small contingent of soldiers. Cleopatra surveyed our terrified faces and clicked her tongue coolly. "Really, Apollodorus. She will be useless until gods know when now that you have frightened her half to death."
"You wanted her compliant, Your Majesty, and that is what you have received. The princess is headstrong when it pleases her and she has always required reminding of her place."
I glared at Apollodorus, then turned to my sister. "What is going on?"
"We are leaving, little sister. I have to get out of Alexandria before Ptolemy throws me in a dungeon somewhere."
"That does not explain why we are here," I retorted, gesturing to Mudjet and myself as Kharmion and a slave swathed us in Bedouin traveling clothes.
"Do you want the pretty answer or the ugly one?"
"Is there a difference?" I asked, adjusting the headscarf.
She ignored me. "The pretty answer is that of the siblings remaining to me you are the cleverest and that means you know that a kingdom ruled by Ptolemy and his minions alone will make dearly departed Berenice's reign look like a golden age. You know I am the better choice and you will help me convince our allies of that. We will help one another and I will look out for you and Ptah."
"And the ugly answer?"
"Ptolemy has Ptah and I need leverage as well. If Pothinus means to get rid of me, they will need you because the people will demand another royal sister-wife in my place. Or if they choose to ignore tradition, they will need you to trade for a foreign bride. Ptolemy thinks if he has Ptah, I will be lost. But he forgets how much he needs you."
"What if I refuse?" I spat out defiantly.
"How quickly you forget poor Apollodorus. You have no choice, Arsinoë. You are coming with us. Now at the very least I cannot risk you running off to alert our brother."
Two soldiers stepped behind me and each took one of my arms. I sulkily shook them off and grabbed the reins of the nearest camel. I guided it to kneel down and helped Mudjet climb aboard. Having mounted my own camel, I continued to glare at Cleopatra.
"Do not be so put out, sister," she said breezily as she leapt onto her horse. "Traveling to distant lands is an adventure. You might even enjoy yourself."
She gave a signal and we galloped off across the racegrounds towards the Jewish quarter and the eastern cemeteries. We passed through the Gate of the Sun, following the road east towards Canopus and to the banks of the Nile. From there, we would meet the endless desert and my sister's desperate gambit to recover her kingdom, of which I was now an accomplice. I would have to do as she said or I might never see Ptah or Alexandria again. I pulled the loose cloth of my headwrap around my face and gripped the pommel of my saddle tighter as I called to my camel to quicken its pace.
––––––––
At first we merely crossed through the delta lands, which while not the barren desert, were hardly the succulent paradise they should have been at this time of year. The drought still bit into the marrow of our kingdom. The children we passed on the trade roads were thinner than they should have been as well, the oxen's hides not as glossy. In the farmlands the people were not quite starving — not yet — though the normally generous peasants were slow to offer us food, even in exchange for coin. And my sister's position was too tenuous to demand more by revealing herself to them.
As we rested at a well we had been grudgingly allowed to drink from, I walked over to Cleopatra. She sat seemingly lost in thought, dandling an empty copper ladle from her hand.
"So where are we going anyway?" I asked, settling myself on the wall next to her.
"Heliopolis," she answered in a distracted voice.
"Not exactly a military hub, sister."
Her eyes came into sharper focus. They appeared a gold-flecked brown that day. "One must plan before one rides out with an army. And not all armies are made of men."
"Do you plan to raise a ghost army in a ghost town?" I returned skeptically.
"Tut, little sister. You of all people should know the value of a good library. We go to Heliopolis for information."
"I thought all of the manuscripts were moved to Alexandria a century ago."
"There are always bits that get left behind. We go to see what has been left in the field after the harvest."