He returned it as he said, “Pullus, may I present Queen Cleopatra. Your Highness, this is Primus Pilus Titus Pullus of the 6th Legion. As of this moment, you are under my protection, and it will be the Primus Pilus and his men who provide that protection.”
She turned her large brown eyes up to me, smiling at me. This caused me to go weak in the knees, as I realized I had no idea the proper way to behave, never having met a queen before, so all I could think was to bow and mumble, “Highness. It is a great honor.”
“Thank you, Centurion. I know that I am in good hands just by looking at you!”
I felt the heat rising to my face and I honestly do not remember much of the rest of the exchange, such as it was. Quickly enough I was dismissed back to my place by the door while Cleopatra and Caesar talked, with his generals sitting nearby and listening. They talked for at least two thirds of a watch, before Caesar stood and beckoned me.
“You are to escort Cleopatra and her servant back to her quarters. She's going to take up residence in her wing of the palace, since that will be where she'll be most comfortable, among her own things. You will post a guard; use however many men you see fit, but I think it should be at least two sections per entrance. Nobody is to be allowed in, except for me, or one of my secretaries. No exceptions, do you understand, Pullus?”
I saluted, saying that I did. I had sent for some men to come to headquarters when I brought Apollodorus so that I would not have to reduce the guard in the event I needed them, and they were waiting outside for us. Forming them around Cleopatra and her servant, I was about to give the order to march when I realized that I had no idea exactly where we were going, since I did not know where her quarters were.
Embarrassed, I turned to her and mumbled, “Er, Highness? If you would be so kind and point the way to your quarters, we’ll get under way.”
She laughed, and pointed the direction. “It’s down this way. Follow me.”
And without waiting, she marched away, leaving us running after her as I cursed under my breath.
~ ~ ~ ~
Cleopatra was installed in her wing without incident, and after examining the layout of the building, I realized that in order to secure it to the standard that Caesar required would take almost a whole Century per shift. Cleopatra’s quarters were actually a wing of the palace in name only; it was, for all intents and purposes, a separate building, consisting of two sections separated by a central passageway that served as an audience chamber. One wing was for Cleopatra’s private use, with perhaps a total of 40 or 50 rooms. The other wing was split into two stories, with the lower floor dominated by a huge formal dining room, the upper story containing the living quarters of the servants belonging to Cleopatra. There were two staircases leading to the upper floors on the outside, one on each side, with a covered veranda running the length of the upper floor, again on each side. There were entrances at each end of the building, but what made it difficult to control were the half dozen small, secret doors scattered all over the building, each of which had to be covered by at least a section. We used the standard watch length, with a Century taking each watch and their Centurion the commander of the watch, who reported to me at the end of each shift, or sent for me in the event of an emergency. The only event of any note was the fact that Caesar came to Cleopatra’s quarters that first night, his appearance being reported to me with a leer by Annius. His departure shortly before dawn was also reported to me, this time by Cornuficius, his face carefully expressionless, but there was no mistaking the amusement in his eyes, and I was forced to swallow my irritation. It was in this manner that the next several days passed; Caesar did not miss spending a single night with Cleopatra, so she must have had something going for her that was not readily apparent to the eye.
“Maybe there’s something to be said about all those tricks Egyptian women supposedly know,” I mused to Felix one night as we shared some wine.
He laughed, then shrugged. “I’d like to find out, though not with her. She’s really not much to look at it, is she?”
I shook my head. “No, she’s not. But I overheard her talking with Caesar when they went for a walk around the grounds the other day. She’s got a pretty good sense of humor, and she doesn’t miss a thing. She said a couple things that caught me by surprise, I can tell you that.”
“Oh, what was that?”
I looked at him, suddenly embarrassed, realizing that I had said too much. As curious as I may have been about what he saw in her, I was also reluctant to be seen as gossiping about my general, so I just shrugged and mumbled, “I don’t recall exactly. It was just interesting.”
Fortunately, he did not press, and we continued sipping our wine in companionable silence.
~ ~ ~ ~
The day after Cleopatra arrived, Caesar called a meeting of brother and sister, ordering both Cohorts to be present, so we formed up, lining up against the walls of the main palace to watch the fun. We were there to remind Ptolemy, and more importantly Pothinus and Theodotus, who held the whip, and to discourage them from doing anything as silly as trying to argue. At the assembly, Caesar announced that Ptolemy had thought things over and decided that Egypt would be best served by the restoration of Cleopatra to her throne, and that they would once again co-rule their kingdom in peace and harmony. It was very hard not to burst out laughing, looking at the faces of Ptolemy and his toadies as Caesar spoke, but they were smart enough not to argue the point. That night Caesar ordered a banquet held, with Ptolemy, Cleopatra and their retinues as the guests of honor. I was ordered to keep a Century standing by outside the palace, but within hailing distance, taking command myself. During the banquet, the Egyptians drank themselves silly, exactly as Caesar had planned, counting on the loosening effect on their tongues to provide him with useful information. And it worked; during the festivities one of Caesar’s staff, the barber as it turned out, one of the faceless, nameless masses that upper classes and palace types think of as part of the furniture, managed to overhear of a plot by Pothinus and the general of the Egyptian army still at Pelusium, a man named Achillas, to kill Caesar. I was called to Caesar, who informed me of the plot and ordered me to surreptitiously bring some men in and scatter them about the palace, ready to spring to his defense should it be more than just drunken talk. Caesar stayed up the entire night, which of course meant that we stayed up as well, but nothing happened, at least that night.