ONC 2023 Shortlister & Nano Watt 2023 Shortlist Novella
Inspired by the prompt: 28: Stumped on a history assignment, you stumble across a time machine that will bring you back to the time period you're studying.
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It all began with...
After Brutus whisked Julius off to the war council's meeting, I conveniently found myself with plenty of time to think about my situation. Which, now that I think about it, was the worst thing ever because I found myself spiralling into despair at the thought of being trapped in the year 44 BCE.
Nobody knew I was here. At least, I didn't think they did.
Noticing my withdrawal, the presence in my head laid out a path in our shared mind. I followed along till I found myself at the door to Cleopatra's room.
"You're surprisingly calm for someone whose mind and body was abducted," I muttered into the empty space.
Panicking would help? A snarky voice replied. I can't explain it, but I felt Cleopatra smirk.
A smirk of my own formed. "Can you hear my thoughts?"
No reply.
"Cleopatra? Do you know that Julius is going to be killed?"
Silence remained with an odd emptiness where her voice usually came from.
I sighed and walked over to a desk which had open scrolls and loose pages scattered around it.
Flipping through them, my brain helped with the translations. There were scrolls on war, statecraft, gardening and even one on how to teach a child languages. I assumed that was an inside joke of Cleopatra's regarding her lessons with Julius, seeing as there was a giggle that followed after my analysis of the scroll.
I was soon immersed in the papers.
Now, this I could deal with. Why don't we have assignments on statecraft?
I sat down, my hand reaching for a pencil-like stick and dipped it into my ink pot as I placed a blank papyrus scroll in front of me.
I began to scribble away, taking notes on interesting ideas and found the annotated scrolls Julius had given me. It seemed they were constantly sharing little messages.
A smile grew on my face when I read the first note from him.
May this prove a challenge to you, my astute queen. Though, I am ready for you to return it, unsatisfied as usual. Perhaps none can match our magnificence.
Oh, he sure was cocky.
I put aside my other work, scanning through the scroll when another note, written smaller than Julius's larger, eccentric scribbles, caught my eye.
Note this, it read and I glanced down at the papyrus I had written on earlier. It was a match. I glanced back at the note and just below it was a tick with yet another's handwriting.
Already did, my precious.
Whose writing was that?
I continued finding more little, hidden notes.
Analyse.
An interesting take, was the reply.
Another one appeared. I don't expect you to understand this, I had teased.
Then perhaps you should explain it to me in person, it matched her challenge.
A hot blush crept up my neck as I read the notes going back and forth. There was no way Julius wrote them. Most of his notes were politically inclined compared to the others...
There was an intimacy hidden between the other notes that made me feel like I was prying into Cleopatra's diary.
I placed it down as I drew in a shaky breath. Cleopatra really didn't seem as if she and Julius had anything beyond a friendship or political relationship going, but whoever wrote the other notes, subtly hidden in the scroll's messages, definitely meant more to me. My heart fluttered as I found myself scrolling to the end of the document and my fingers brushed over the last note.
I'll be back soon, signed Antony.
[Wattpad word count: 572] [Total Wattpad word count: 5425]
