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until the girl took the inevitable action? It was not in Arsinoe’s
     character to sit placidly by while Kleopatra and Ptolemy the Elder ruled the kingdom.
    “If I were dead, Arsinoe would marry our brother and be queen. She would be unsensible if she did not try to have me killed.
     Besides,” Kleopatra told him, “Arsinoe and Ptolemy have been sleeping together since they were children.”
    “Interesting,” he replied. “We cannot have you dead, now can we?” Then Caesar had said that just as he had once banished the
     senator Cato to Cyprus to get rid of him, so he would now do the same with Arsinoe and the younger brother, who was presently
     a child of eleven, but who would soon become the same kind of nuisance as the present king.
    “And we shall do it under the guise of goodness,” Caesar had said. “A gesture of friendship and goodwill between Rome’s new
     dictator and the Egyptian monarchy.”
    “May it be the first of many,” Kleopatra had replied, and then she had walked straight across the room to Caesar, straddled
     him in his chair, and had him make love to her in that position.
    Pothinus must have imagined what had gone on between Caesar and Kleopatra behind closed doors, and yet he refused to accept
     the verdict that their relationship cast upon his own Fate. Kleopatra’s father had taught her to recognize whom the gods favored
     and align herself thus-ly-not out of self-interest, but in recognition of the supremacy of the Divine. The gods were with
     Caesar. That much was clear. And Caesar was now with Kleopatra. The final step to this equation, to any thinking person, particularly
     one who had studied logic and mathematics,must be clear. But Pothinus and Kleopatra’s siblings chose to ignore this fact, for they made no move to cooperate.
    “You mustn’t send Arsinoe away!” said Ptolemy. “She is my sister and cherished chancellor, though she holds no formal office.”
    For the first time, Kleopatra realized that it was not necessarily the bonds of either family or sex that held Ptolemy to
     Arsinoe. He was afraid, and rightfully so, that without her, he would be even less of an obstruction to Pothinus’s exercising
     complete control over Egypt and her resources. Arsinoe, on the other hand, probably comprehended this completely and had been
     using it to compensate for her unfortunate placement in the family’s hierarchy.
    “Dearest Brother,” Arsinoe said, “if my duty to country lies at Cyprus, then go I must. We shall not let it separate us in
     spirit.” Ptolemy moved to correct her, but she silenced him by taking his hand. “Now is not the time to discuss the issue.
     It is a private matter between us, and we need not consume the general’s time with our familial arrangements.”
    How shrewd was this girl, Kleopatra thought. Berenike would have challenged Caesar directly, no matter what price she had
     to pay. Thank the gods that Caesar had agreed to remove Arsinoe from Kleopatra’s kingdom. And thank the gods that Berenike
     and not Arsinoe had been the firstborn daughter. The eunuch Meleager who had attached himself to Berenike had been a genius
     conniver. He was dead now, slain by his own hand when his machinations failed. But Kleopatra shuddered at the thought of Arsinoe
     and Meleager combining their efforts to take over the throne. What a powerful team they would have made. As it was, Arsinoe’s
     present regent was less adroit at disguising his intentions than was his charge.
    “Great Caesar, I fear that your efforts to reconcile the family have had the opposite effect,” said Pothinus, his voice full
     of false concern. “I fear you do not understand the intense blood bonds that flow through the veins of this family. See how
     you threaten the welfare of the king? As his regent, I simply must protest.”
    “Caesar has taken your protestations into consideration. But the fact remains. The princess and the younger prince set sail
     as soon as the winds are