Prologue
Greetings. I am Arsinoë IV, the fourth and last daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, the late king. It has been almost a decade since his death, and I miss him terribly. Should he be alive, in Egypt, on his throne, none of these previous events would have taken place:
the Alexandrine War, my being a part of Julius Ceasar's Egyptian triumph, and my evil whore-sister exiling me the the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, Greece. Ganymedes, my royal tutor and passionate lover, was killed in a year ago, the year I was sent here.
He was a loyal supporter, a brilliant idealist, and a. . .a lover. A passionate lover. No one, not even my sisters or brothers knew about him. He has to be a secret. If anyone found out about our affair, oh, how it would be dangerous if the whole court knew. . . nevertheless, I enjoyed my time with him before he was. . .killed. I remembered when he became general of my legion. He was inexperienced at first, but later did a fine job as commander of my army. But most of all, he was the most faithful person I ever had in my life.
The other most faithful people to me were Iset, my most trusted servant, Agathe, a generous priestess, and her husband, Megabyzus, the chief priest and priestess who welcomed me with open arms. They, as well as the Ephesians, adore me. They blessed me with gifts of gold jewelry(I have already brought vast amounts of gold from Egypt!), glass botttles filled with sweet-smelling expensive perfumes, costly cloths and fabrics of many colors, and a large feast to complete the night. And, to my surprise, all the people that lived in the temple and the Ephesians addressed me as "Queen Arsinoë" and proclaimed me Queen of Egypt. So did the Egyptians, before I was exiled.
And to add to the kindness and blessings that the goddess Isis bestowed on me, Megabyzus and Agathe introduced me to their son, Alexandros. The first time I looked into his hazel eyes, I knew that was going to be the start of my affair with him.
But it is truly a shame that the people you love cannot stay in your life forever. It is also a shame that sometimes, you cannot live up to your destiny, like me. My wretched sister Cleopatra and my brothers have been in power for too long. They have been in the prosperous light while I take refuge among the shadows. The time has come for a new queen. The time has come for the reign of Arsinoë IV.
