The Princess of Egypt Must Die Read Online Free PDF

great victory and return home safely," I say.
    I mean it, too. Since the day Prince Agathocles apologized for his behavior, he's treated me with respect as his father's wife. Since that day, he and his sister have been my friends. I would be sorry if he died at war. I am genuinely worried.
    He notices and tries to reassure me. "I'll have Cassander with me. That boy knows the mountain passes as if he were a native tribesman himself."
    My voice comes out as a distressed squeak. " Cassander
is going with you to war?"
    "He must grow up sometime," Prince Agathocles replies. "He knows how to use a spear. Now he must wield it for our father."
    By the gods, Cassander could die in battle and I might never see him again! I've been so foolish to stay away from him. Now I regret every moment we've been apart.
    When Prince Agathocles is gone, I nearly dash the basket of pomegranates to the floor in my haste. "Where are you going?" Bunny asks.
    "To the stables."
    "No!" she cries, grabbing at my arm. "Someone might see you."
    "What does it matter? I've visited the stables a hundred times before."
    "This time you aren't going to see your
horse ," Bunny argues. "You're going to see
Cassander ."
    She knows my secret heart. She's carried messages for Cassander. She carried one from me, as well. But before now, I've behaved honorably. I've
done
nothing shameful. That is about to change. Even though I know it is wrong that Cassander loves me and I love him, I must see him. I am ashamed of myself, but it will not stop me. "I must see him, Bunny. Before he goes to war. I must!"
    She pauses only for a moment, biting her lower lip in that exaggerated way she has. "Stable lads tend the horses at all hours and might overhear you talking there, but nobody goes to the garden after dark. It's better you meet him beneath the mulberry tree when everyone is asleep."
    It is as if she's given me permission to do the thing I most want to do. "Yes," I say, a tingle of thrill in my blood. "Surely, you're right. Tell Cassander to meet me under the moon and the mulberry tree."
     
    A servant undresses me for bed. The moment I hear her footsteps in the distance, I slip out of my room. In bare feet, I race down the back stairs. All I can think of is Cassander. To see him again. To hear his voice. To be warmed by his shy smile. I don't even feel the ground beneath my toes. It is as if I float through the moonlit garden to the mulberry tree, where I see him silhouetted in the darkness.
    "Arsinoë?" he whispers.
    The sound of his voice makes my heart leap with joy. "Yes! Cassander. It's me."
    "You came," he says, reaching for my hands. I let him take them. His hands are warm, his fingertips rough on my own. "Have you come to say goodbye?"
    "To wish you luck," I say hurriedly, not wishing to give him cause for worry.
    "I intend to become a great warrior," he says.
    "And then?"
    His eyes glisten. "Who knows...the world turns in strange ways."
    We're silent a moment, holding hands.
    "I'm not afraid to die in battle," Cassander whispers. "I am only afraid to die without ever having heard you say it."
    I blush. I
burn . I know what he wants to hear. I can't deny it anymore. "I love you."
    He smiles. It's a beautiful, dazzling smile. "Will you say it again? I think it has become my new favorite sound."
    "I love you, Cassander. I
love
you."
    Nothing in my life has ever been so easy to say.
    And once I've said it, we are so happy. We stand there, staring at one another with foolish grins upon our faces. We are still standing like that, moments later, when the king's soldiers burst into the garden and arrest us.
     
    I'm brought before King Lysimachus. His deranged dog takes my place on the throne, barking madly. In only my dressing gown, I'm utterly shamed before the court. I'm accused of unspeakable crimes. And I cannot stop trembling for my fear—and my anger.
    All my life I've been someone's victim. Bullied by Lysandra in Egypt. And now, betrayed, most cruelly, by