Every Last Kiss, Final Copy, June 30, 2011 by Courtney Cole Read Free Book Online Page B

It should have seemed strange to be back in this ornate, ancient setting… but it did not.  It seemed perfectly normal, as though I had never left.  It was astounding. 
            Since they were well used to my comings and goings, the guards stationed outside of the queen’s doors barely spared me a glance, instead keeping their dark eyes focused directly in front of them.  Their oiled skin gleamed as I walked past, their lithe muscles perpetually tensed, ever ready to spring to action.
            As I pulled open the heavy golden doors and entered her opulent outer chambers, I could hear murmuring voices and quickly picked up my pace to find out who Cleopatra was speaking to.  Not many were allowed entrance into her private chambers, besides myself and her other handmaiden, Iras.  For safety’s sake now, during these turbulent times, only a select few house-servants and her husband, Marc Antony, were granted access.  I passed through her receiving room and her sitting room before breathlessly arriving in the doorway of her cavernous bedchambers just in time to hear her speak again.
            “Drink it, foolish girl!”
    Cleopatra’s voice was hard-edged and impatient.  I watched the spindly little serving girl cower, her large brown eyes liquid as she fought off tears. She couldn’t be more than twelve.   Her family had probably sent her to the palace for the prestigious job of cleaning for the queen.  And now she was testing the queen’s wine for poison.
            My queen was not all sugared figs and rainbows. 
            “Do it!” Cleopatra hissed, her obsidian eyes glittering like dark jewels. 
            The girl’s hand shook as she raised the golden chalice to her small lips and sipped, just one tiny drink.  She raised her eyes slightly over the jeweled rim, looking to the queen for approval before she lowered her hand.
            “That will do for a start,” Cleopatra nodded.  “But it wouldn’t be enough to affect a tiny fruit fly.  Now take a real drink.”
            A single tear slid down the girl’s brown cheek as she took a large gulp.  She swallowed and stood uncertainly, her skinny legs shaking.  I stepped forward and took the wine from her clammy grip. 
            “Thank you,” I murmured.  
            Her eyes were filled with terror and I had to look away. 
            “Please sit in that chair over there- and let us know if you begin to feel sickly.” 
            She nodded quietly and began to walk away.  I grabbed her arm, then loosened my grip so that I didn’t scare her even more.
            “Don’t be troubled… I’m sure you will be fine.  Queen Cleopatra simply has the need to be careful right now… with all that is going on.”  
            She nodded again, but she did appear slightly relieved.  I watched her tiny shoulders hunch over in the chair as she sat on her hands.
            When I turned, I found Cleopatra watching me.
            Her beautiful face was amused, her kohl-lined eyes crinkled as she smiled her famous grin.  She had charmed kings, soldiers, dignitaries and Romans with that smile- and now she was using it on me.  But I was immune.  I had been with her since we were children.   
            “Dear Charmian, you have a heart as soft as the bedpillow of Isis. What shall I do with you?”
            Her chestnut hair was unconcealed by her customary black wig today and it hung to her waist in a wavy cascade.  On days that she didn’t plan to attend public functions, she liked to forgo the itchy inconvenience of her wigs. I didn’t blame her- they were as hot as the blazes and I personally avoided them at all costs.
            I grinned at my friend. 
            “I guess you shall have to keep me, my queen.  No one else wants me!”   It was a backhanded joke- a reference to the fact that I had been orphaned