Song of the Nile by Stephanie Dray Read Free Book Online

crumbs from her fingers, Julia complained, “You know, if I’d done what you did yesterday, my father would’ve banished me.”
    She was probably right. For all that Julia could be impulsive and selfish, vain, and sometimes silly, I couldn’t blame her for her resentment. I hated the way her father treated her and hated even more the idea that she might be displeased with me. “Please don’t take me to task. Juba already scolded me.”
    “Did he?” Now Julia looked at me closely. “Oh, Selene, you poor thing. Your eyes! Did Juba hurt you?”
    Whatever could be wrong with my eyes? I found a silver mirror upon the dressing table and examined my reflection, only to see that the kohl from the night before had smeared and made it look as if I’d wept. “He didn’t hurt me,” I murmured, reaching for a washcloth from the nearby basin. “He barely touched me.”
    Julia’s eyes widened as she glanced at our bed. “Perhaps he’s waiting to claim his rights until he’s sure of a pleasant reception.” I remembered the rush of warmth that had flowed through my body when Juba kissed me. I might have received Juba quite pleasantly if he hadn’t asked me for something I couldn’t give. “Or perhaps your groom hopes to reach some sort of arrangement with you, Selene.”
    I arched a brow. “An arrangement ?”
    At this, Julia snatched the mirror from me to admire her own delicate features. “Marcellus and I have an arrangement.” The hairs at the nape of my neck rose in a way that reminded me of my cat’s reaction to danger. “On the night of our wedding, I told Marcellus that I knew he played the catamite with older men like Virgil. That kind of bedroom play is well enough for a poet or a Greek, but for the emperor’s nephew? Scandal!”
    Of all the older boys in the household, Marcellus had always been the most agreeable. Moreover, Virgil, the emperor’s poet, had always been a friend to my brothers and me. It pained me to think of either man brought into disgrace. “What did Marcellus say when you confronted him?”
    Julia tossed her head, the green glass beads of her dangling earrings rattling together as she laughed. “Marcellus was actually relieved that I knew. He’s never been with a woman. He can’t bring himself to it. We’ve agreed to put out in public that we’re happily wed and neither of us will interfere in one another’s affairs.”
    I wanted to share in her laughter, but I couldn’t even make myself smile. “Julia—”
    “Oh, here comes a lecture, and it ought to be rich, coming from you, who just yesterday set every tongue wagging.”
    “Your father relies on you to give him an heir!”
    “Then he should have married me to Iullus Antonius,” Julia said, defiantly. When I put both my hands over my mouth to stifle my gasp, she said, “Don’t pretend to be surprised. I love your stepbrother. I’ve always loved him. I always will. Besides, you’re the one who prattles on about Egypt, where women are able to choose . You say women are as valuable to the world as men. And look! You’ve persuaded my father to make you a queen. Why shouldn’t I shape the future to my liking?”
    Just the day before, I’d proclaimed myself a goddess and Julia wondered why she couldn’t simply be the mistress of her own destiny. Her thoughts were dangerous. Iullus was my father’s son by the fearsome Fulvia, long since dead, but another woman the emperor loathed. Julia would have been hard-pressed to find a more insulting candidate for her heart. “Julia, do you know what your father would do to you if he caught you with Iullus? To both of you?”
    She fluttered her eyelashes at me, the very image of innocence. “Why should my father ever find out? Someday the empire will belong to Marcellus. He’d gladly adopt my children as his own. He said so. After being forced to marry, we’ve found a way to be happy. Why can’t you be happy for us?”
    “Because I’m terrified for you.” For Iullus too.