The Arab Fall (A James Acton Thriller, Book #6) (James Acton Thrillers) Read Online Free PDF Page B

holding the menacing creature out. With her free
hand, she reached for its head, grabbing it tightly, it now under her control,
but the creature now writhing in anger.
    “Stay
back!” she ordered, Epaphroditus still advancing. She rushed a step forward,
the cobra’s hooded head facing her captor, and he stopped, retreating several
paces, shouting for help. She rounded her bed, placing it between her and him,
her handmaidens huddled in the corner, cowering in fear of the vicious, deadly
creature. The door sprung open, several Roman Centurions rushing inside.
    “If you
take one step toward me, if anybody takes one step toward me, you won’t live
beyond the morning!”
    The
creature writhing in her hand flared its hood, the “brave” Roman troops jumping
back at the famous hiss, it so low it was easily mistaken as a growl. Who’s
in control now? She smiled as she felt the rush surge through her veins,
the feeling of control she hadn’t had for days suddenly restored. This was her chamber, her city, her kingdom, once again, and she was a Queen,
a Pharaoh, to once again be listened to and respected.
    The
snake slithered in her hand, its head squirming in protest, but she merely
squeezed tighter, controlling it as she had once controlled an empire with her
Antony. And now she would strike one final blow in their name against their
enemy, by denying him his greatest prize.
    She
looked at Epaphroditus who stood the closest, but too far to interfere with her
plans, even his loyalty to Octavian not great enough to risk the bite of a king
cobra.
    “You
will deliver a message for me to your master.”
    Epaphroditus
bristled at her words.
    “I am a
freedman,” he said, his voice cold, a hint of anger at having to define himself
to her creeping into his voice. “I have no master, but I serve, by my
choice, Octavian.”
    Cleopatra
bowed her head slightly with a smile.
    “And at
his pleasure, I am sure.”
    Epaphroditus
returned the bow.
    “Of
course.”
    “And you
will deliver my message?”
    “Of
course.”
    “Then
tell Octavian that I, Cleopatra the Seventh, daughter of Ptolemy the Twelfth,
the reincarnation of the goddess Isis, and rightful ruler of this land, deny
him his prize. He will not be permitted to parade me through the streets of
Rome as a slave, a humiliated former ruler of a far off land Romans are too
ignorant of to realize predated their pathetic empire by thousands of years,
with monuments greater than the greatest ever built by their hands, that will
last until the end of time as symbols of our power.
    “I deny
him his prize. Forever shall Romans’ memories of me be that of the Pharaoh of
Egypt, arriving in Rome, their mighty Julius Caesar my puppet, my entourage so
massive and elaborate, it rivaled the entrance of anyone before or since,
proving the wealth and superiority of the Egyptian people. Forever will he be
forced to remember that it was my statue that Caesar erected in his
famous temple of Venus, as I am Isis, reincarnated once again to shepherd my
children to safety.
    “And
though I have failed this time, I shall be back, in another form, to deliver
the masses from the evil that is Rome, and once again, as I suckled my son
Horus, the god of war and protection, at the beginning of time, I shall return,
to suckle man’s savior from Rome. Remember the words I speak here today, for
though they may be forgotten to history, when I return, the world shall shudder
in relief as I deliver them their savior, their protector, their warrior
against evil and those who would serve it.
    “For
today I do not die, I merely return to my throne in the heavens, leaving
Octavian without his prize, his legacy the humiliation of his failure at
preventing a lone woman from taking her own life.”
    She
looked up, through the ceiling, and into the heavens, her heart hammering in
her chest.
    “I do
this for you, my beloved.”
    She
turned the head of the cobra toward her, and plunged it into her bare chest.
She felt