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Mudjet was brushing my hair a few mornings hence when Quintus Fabianus came to my tent, his helmet tucked under his arm.
"Good morning, sir," I said to him, swiveling about to give him a smile. "You are about early, what news is there in camp?"
"Conditions in camp and in the city proper remain much as they have been, Your Highness. I come to inform you that the general is having a staff meeting to discuss our strategy moving forward now that we have planted ourselves firmly against whatever pushback the legion can offer."
"Has the general requested my attendance?"
Quintus hesitated a beat. "He says that you are of course welcome to attend, though if you would rather not, he completely understands and would be happy to outline the proceedings at your later convenience."
I raised my eyebrows slightly. "I am sure he would. Though I think I can find the time to attend this meeting myself." I turned to Mudjet. "Do you think we can be spared from our womanly duties, my sweet?"
"Oh dear my lady, it will be a great trial, but we shall have to take a break from admiring your finery and elegantly napping to actually attend to the business of the war we are in the middle of," she remarked with an exaggerated yawn.
The Gabiniani lieutenant laughed, relieved. "That is my spirited lady! I had hoped you would not be put off by Achillas' less than enthusiastic invitation."
"You need not worry about that, sir. I know Achillas and my brother hope I am nothing more than a poppet they can hold up as a symbol and place upon a shelf to sit quietly when they have no need of me. Ptolemy should know me better than that."
"Then if you'd be so good as to follow me, my lady, I will show you the way."
I rose up. "Mudjet, would you go find Tahu for me? I would like him with us also, and I suspect the commanders have neglected to extend him notice of this meeting." My companion nodded and trotted off in the direction of the harbor barricades.
We crossed the camp as the sun began to climb its way over our heads, promising to make the day a hot one. I draped my himation over my head for shade. Our encampment was relatively empty, as most of our soldiers were along our front lines facing the palace or directing civilians who needed relocating as skirmish markers shifted, but the scattered few that remained near their tents saluted as we passed.
The thump of hoofbeats drew up along our side, and Tahu grinned down at us as Mudjet clung to his back. Quintus reached up and helped her dismount, as my Egyptian lieutenant slid off so he could walk along with us leading the horse.
"You made quick time," I said to Mudjet as she worked to pin my himation into place on the move.
"Well, Sir Tahu is always easy to find. One must simply look for a native telling a Greek what to do," she answered with a saucy toss of her head.
Tahu chuckled. "If the young Greek overlords would not go about things so stupidly, Lady Mudjet, I would gladly keep my mouth shut."
"I hope you didn't waste all your wit on those peons," added Quintus with an amused guffaw. "I want to hear you tell the commanders why you know best."
"Only if given leave by Her Majesty," said Tahu, his eyes twinkling at me.
"Nonsense," I said to him. "I want all of my officers to speak freely, not just Achillas and whomever has his ear. If you both remain silent, I shall have to fight alone."
We passed by the soldiers stationed outside the tent into the close heat of the interior, where I could already hear Achillas and Ganymedes arguing about something or another.
"The palace is designed not to be taken! You waste our time and manpower trying to do so!" fumed my teacher angrily.
"Excuse me, Ganymedes, perhaps you forget I am captain of the guard. I am well aware of the defenses of the palace!" growled Achillas in return. "And I have experience with the outer walls and gates, not just with the perfumed eunuchs' quarters!"
The other officers stood awkwardly around my two sniping commanders, until one of the Gabiniani legionaries left in charge by Aulus Gabinius saw our entrance. "Hail, Arsinoë Philoaígyptos!" he said a touch too loudly, in order to drown out the raised voices.
Everyone else turned in the direction of his salutation as the Greeks bowed and the Gabiniani present placed a fist over their chests. My teacher immediately abandoned his discussion with the general and stepped over to take my hands. "May the gods shine their faces on you this day, my lady," he greeted me in a gentle voice completely divorced from the one he had been using to address Achillas.
For his part, Achillas quickly moved to Ganymedes' side and took a knee before me. "Hail, Your Highness. We are pleased to have you among us," he said gallantly.
"Please rise, sir. You need not stand on such ceremony," I answered him.
Achillas stood up apologetically. "Your Highness must forgive the early hour of this meeting, but we have much to organize."
"It is well, I had already risen. Though I fear I am tardy as it would seem conversation has begun without me."
The general had the good sense to appear abashed. "We beg your ladyship's forgiveness for that as well." He paused to glance at Ganymedes. "We are all most passionate about our cause."
I waved my hand. "Wise men may disagree about a great many things, sirs, but we must not allow such disagreements to hinder us. No doubt the Queen and her general rely on the impolitic tongues of Alexandria to undo our work. Let us not give them such satisfaction."
There was a chorus of good-natured assent by the company and we settled into a circle around the main table for a more formal dialogue. Quintus escorted me to one of the waiting couches as I beckoned Mudjet to take a seat beside me and my two lieutenants stood flanking us.
Achillas took the floor. "Would my lady allow me to update her on the positioning of our army?" he asked.
His polite tone seemed impeccable, though its smoothness was worrying to me. Whenever he spoke to me thusly, he did not speak as one general to another. Rather, it was the sweet tone one used to humor a child, and its sugar felt gritty in my ear. Achillas respected me always as a princess of the blood, which is more than could be said for the many that no doubt held my Egyptian ancestors against me, but he did not respect me as a leader. If I was to protect myself from him or my brother, I would have to labor to change that, if that were even possible.
However, I would not accomplish such a thing by throwing a tantrum here over a perceived slight of tone. "Please do, sir. I am most anxious for such news."
He nodded and proceeded. "We continue to hold most of the city in our control, my lady. Caesar and Cleopatra hold the palace along with a few veins of commerce in the Jewish quarter that stretch into the eastern cemeteries and beyond towards Canopus. They also hold the royal harbor inlet, though we control the rest of the coast and they have only a handful of seaworthy ships docked there. Caesar's garrison on Pharos is our nearest problem, though they are hemmed in on the Lighthouse island and the northern half of Pharos itself."
"How much of the island is under our control?"
"We currently hold the southern shore to just past the Heptastadion, as well as the southwestern tip of the island to the Temple of Poseidon. So our inner docks are secure."
"Have they been hindering vessels entering the harbor through their control of the lighthouse?"
"No, my lady. The Romans know how deeply unpopular they are in the city at large and they cannot risk alienating the merchant classes by closing trade access."
"This means we should not have difficulty securing supplies for the foreseeable future, my lady," added Ganymedes.
I held out my hand for the map of the city lying on the table, and Quintus delivered it to me. I studied it for a moment. "It seems to me that we should endeavor to sever the palace from its remaining supply lines in the east. They will be well stocked, so the results will not be immediate, though it may prevent them from regaining a fleet with which to challenge us."
"We are working towards this very goal, Your Highness," answered Achillas. "Your Jewish subjects are more kindly disposed to Rome than most Alexandrians so they block some of our progress."
"Though you mean they are willing to supply the palace, not that they are fighting alongside the legion, correct?"
"Yes, my lady."
"That is because their district is on the doorstep of the palace and they fear the swiftest retribution from my sister if they are as recalcitrant. You all must be cognizant of this as you fight in that quarter. I demand that you deal with my subjects there fairly and see as little harm comes to them as possible. They are in a difficult position, and they are not our enemy, is that understood? They will be even less likely to aid us if we are cruel to them."
There was a murmur of assent from the assembly. "Do we still hold the Heptastadion firmly?" I asked one of the Gabiniani on my right.
"Yes, my lady,” he replied, reaching over to trace our movements and those of our enemies on the map in my hands. “The legion has no access to the city from the great causeway. To reach their forces stationed on the northern end of Pharos and the lighthouse, they must sail into the outer harbor in a large arc to avoid us."
"This is good. I believe we should focus our greater energy on taking Pharos back from the garrison rather than taking the palace at this juncture."
Ganymedes smirked in triumph as Achillas looked taken aback. "But my lady, your lord brother is trapped in the palace! Surely we must retrieve him as soon as possible.”
I shook my head. "Ptolemy is fine where he is. Caesar would not dare to harm him and will not allow my sister to do so. Assassination is not his way. The palace ironically might be the safest place for the pharaoh; if he were here with us, he would be in much more danger. If we can wrest the island away from the enemy, we will have complete mastery of the harbor and we can form a complete blockade against any reinforcements Caesar can attempt to recall. Once we do this, then we can turn our attention to the palace."
"My lady," Achillas’ voice was urgent, "you speak of fighting the hydra's tail when we need to cut off its heads. If we take the palace, we will take Cleopatra and her Roman dog. The legion will surrender without their general."
"But Caesar's best men are on Pharos," observed Quintus Fabianus. "We could cut what strength he has out from under him if we capture the island."
"He is Caesar! As long as he is at liberty, he will be able to summon allies to his side,” Achillas argued.
"And there is no guarantee that the legion will capitulate even if we get our hands on him,” pointed out Ganymedes, rallying his previous opposition.
"We won't know if we are too craven to try!" barked a young Greek captain.
I held up both hands. "Enough! I will not have this bickering! We must learn to disagree with one another civilly or the legion defeats us without taking the field.” The officers all looked at me guiltily. With calm restored, I continued. "Now my Gabiniani, I wish to hear your opinion: if we were to capture Caesar, would Rome rise to save him?"
The men conferred with each other briefly before one of their centurions spoke. "It is difficult to say, Your Highness. The civil war has unsettled many of the old factions and alliances. The people are stout supporters of Caesar, and his retainers in Rome such as Marcus Antonius might be able to whip the Senate into deploying a rescue mission. However, many in the Senate do not trust Caesar or his intentions and might be grateful for an excuse to get rid of him. Cato the Younger is well respected in Rome and he detests Caesar; he might have the clout to rally other opponents while Caesar is away."
"The Senate could probably convince Marcus Cicero to join them. He will always speak against the dictatorship," added another officer and his brother soldiers made noises of agreement.
“What of his other legions? Would they abandon their fight with the Republican armies and fly to Egypt?”
“If they were able, it is likely, Your Highness,” says the centurion. “But we are fortunate that we began our struggle when we did.” He grins as he wipes the sweat from his brow. “We might burn, but in places other than Egypt, it is winter and the Great Sea is treacherous at this time of year. Sailing here will take time.”
"Then it seems to me that it would be more decisive of us to gain control of the capital as opposed to worrying over whether we have Caesar in our thrall."
The Gabiniani considered this. "So it would seem, Your Highness," replied the first officer. "The remainder of the Roman army may or may not come to Caesar's defense were we to take him, and if Caesar were to escape Egypt, he may or may not return. There are arguably too many variables in that course to warrant our slavish devotion to the course of capturing the general."
Achillas huffed impatiently. "Very well, if that is the majority opinion we shall concentrate our efforts on Pharos and keep to holding those stationed at the palace, not mass an attack on the complex yet."
Looking to placate my general, I tried to be gracious in victory. "Sir, if an opportunity presents itself, we shall of course assault the palace and seek out the general and my sister. I only ask you not to attempt to force events in this."
He nodded, somewhat mollified. "As you wish, my lady."
Having gained this point, I felt I held enough confidence within the company to broach the subject of our naval resources. "Sirs, another matter I desired to speak with you of is the state of our fleet. I know our enemy has no navy of consequence at this time, but winter will not hold them back forever and Caesar's reinforcements will come by sea. Even if we do not plan to engage their ships in battle, I feel we must be able to form a line of defense for the coast against their arrival. I would like a sizable amount of our resources to be devoted to this project. My people are a seafaring people, we should utilize this strength in our struggle."
Quintus once more came to my aid. "I believe this to be a sound strategy. The Alexandrians have a tactical advantage in regards to the topography of the immediate sea in addition to their affinity for sailing and water — an affinity we Romans largely do not share."
"Indeed," chimed in Ganymedes. "We will have the upper hand in both skill and numbers on the sea, even if the legion defends its own here on land."
"It would be best if we could prevent additional legions from landing here," agreed another captain.
"In this I concur with Her Highness," said Achillas to the gathering at large. "Though to build a workable fleet, we shall need a reliable source of timber. As of now most of our supply lines are in the east and we share them with the enemy. It will be difficult to avoid raiding parties. We cannot afford to give the palace free building materials."
"Perhaps I may be of service," answered Tahu, speaking for the first time. "If it please my lords, I will make arrangements with our southern cities to send us supplies through the delta tributaries that are west of Canopus. They are not as large, and it may take them longer to reach us because we will have to move overland for a greater distance, but we should avoid interference from the other side.”
Achillas made a gesture of assent. "Yes, Lieutenant, make this so."
Now was the truly difficult part for me to explain. Give me the right words, Sobek. "Thank you sirs, for listening to my request with open ears even though I am just a simple girl. If I may be permitted another suggestion to men no doubt wiser in the ways of war than I?" Seeing I continued to hold their attention, I screwed up my courage and started in on my plan. "I know that the tradition of my fathers is primarily to stock the fleet of Egypt with quadriremes and even quinqueremes, built to withstand great bombasts from enemy ships. However, I fear that focusing our efforts on these models above smaller scale warships will injure our cause in several respects.
“Firstly, that these vessels, because of the large number of decks they require and the thickness of their hulls, will consume so many of our resources as to hinder our ability to construct a number of ships that will be helpful to us. Related to this issue is the large collection of men required to effectively pilot these ships; we would need so many sailors at the oars that I fear for the ability of our troops that remain ashore to hold our positions against the legion."
"Your Highness, it is admirable to see the thought you've put into the positioning of our navy," interrupted Achillas, "yet I’m sure your intrepid man here," he motioned to Tahu, "will no doubt find the timber we need. And I shall see to it that we find enough men to row two hundred quadriremes!" he finished with a flourish.
This created a pleasant little stir among the younger Greek officers, though my teacher watched them and the general with a deeply skeptical air. Sensing that I was beginning to lose the focus of the room, I as politely as possible ignored this minor tumult and turned once more to engage the Gabiniani.
"Aside from these concerns, I also am unsure of the wisdom of constructing a fleet of such slow ships. Especially in light of the ships our adversaries will have at their disposal. It is not the Roman navy that is coming to us, but rather a legion traveling by sea. Is it not so that your countrymen favor the swifter hemiolias for such operations?"
One of the centurions nodded. "This is true, my lady."
"Hemiolias are much more nimble than our quadriremes and I worry that the incoming legion will simply dance around our tortoise ships unless we have vessels that can match their speed."
Several of the Gabiniani seemed to seriously attend themselves to my argument, and I could very nearly feel the tide reverse once more in my favor.
However, Achillas detected this also and inserted himself back into the discussion. "Your knowledge of seamanship is worthy of a daughter of Alexandria, my lady, though I believe your worries to be premature. We do not need to engage the Romans in an open sea fight if we can hold a decent blockade of the coastline. They will have to come to us, and even if a few of their little skiffs manage to flit around us, they will no doubt run aground on the unfamiliar shoals of the inner harbor. Our goal should be the blockade, not a naval battle, and in that case the larger quadriremes with their elephant-hide bellies are the best protection we can offer the city."
Now the muttering of approval swept the tent more strongly, and I knew I was beaten. Witnessing how adverse the Greeks were to bringing our fight into the sea, I dared not press the point for risk of having the officers revoke their consent to build any more ships at all. I knew we would need them dearly, and I would find a way to make do with ships not of my choosing. "Then I shall bow to the expertise of my courageous commanders to build a navy worthy of the Black Land."
Relaxed now that I had conceded the issue, Achillas saluted jauntily. "This shall be the finest fleet Egypt has ever launched, Your Highness!"
"Perhaps I could suggest a small compromise that my general might build me several trihemiolias to have in reserve in case of emergency?"
His cheer restored, he was willing to indulge me. "If it would bring my lady pleasure, I will leap to oblige," he said, clouding the expression of my teacher considerably.
"I ask not on a princely whim, only for my peace of mind,” I answered curtly, masking my deeper annoyance.
"Then I would be happy to unburden your brow, Your Highness."
I was not about to be swept away by his charm this morning. "I shall carry my burdens until Pharos is ours."
He gestured expansively to the company. "Then we must finish taking Pharos without delay!" he said, which caused the younger officers to cheer.
––––––––
Having exhausted all of our most pressing arrangements, the meeting broke up soon after so that the junior officers could attend to their various duties. Without a specific destination in mind, I decided to retreat to my tent to study my maps and my books for the rest of the afternoon. My tutor and those who had become my entourage since my arrival — Mudjet, Tahu, and Quintus Fabianus — wordlessly fell into step around me.
"You did well today, nedjet," said Ganymedes after a time. "You were very queenly, even though you did not carry every motion."
"From what I have observed, being queenly often necessitates capitulation," I replied, lost in thought as we walked.
"Certainly to be a good queen," he retorted with a fond smile.
I looked to Tahu. "Achillas has not put too much upon you, has he? All that I ask is that you try to find us new supply routes."
The Mephisian shrugged cheerfully. "Do not worry, Your Majesty. I shall find what we need. I would not have spoken so if I was at a loss."
Invigorated by Tahu's infectious confidence, I shook off some of the bitterness I felt at not having convinced my commanders to diversify our fleet. "Quintus, was I wrong to back down on the issue of the quadriremes?" I was afraid I may have disappointed him by not being aggressive enough.
He smiled. "No, my lady, I think you did well. You stated your arguments concisely and with good logic. I believe many found you persuasive in spite of the majority."
"And you were wise to grasp the opportunity to still get some trihemiolias out of Achillas," observed Mudjet.
"This is true, Mudjet!" said Quintus. "An excellent maneuver!"
"I pray it is enough,” I said, biting my lip. “My commanders hold fast to the city, where the enemy infantry has the advantage. I agree with a blockade, but naval warfare plays to our strengths. I have much more faith in beating Rome at sea than here in the streets. To not plan for an attack that could force the enemy's hand makes me uneasy."
"I agree with you, my lady," said my tutor. "And I know that everyone present does as well. We shall figure out some contingency."
Quintus nodded. "I will work on my brother soldiers. I think the Gabiniani can be brought to our viewpoint."
"We can consult with the fishermen and our sailors also, my lady," added Tahu. "I am sure amongst us all we can draw up some plans so if the Greeks' predictions fall through we will not be caught flat-footed."
I grinned, pleased. "Excellent. We have much to do then, my friends."