Kairos

Chapter 17

"Morning." I woke up to the female voice. The woman had silky hair, with threads of golden ribbon glinting throughout. Her deep brown eyes pierced into me, full of intelligence.

The memories came in a second later identifying her as Cleopatra the VII. I couldn't help gaping, she didn't look Egyptian at all! To be fair, I knew she was Macedonian, descendent of the Ptolemy dynasty so not actually Egyptian at all. But the clearly pervasive image in modern pop culture depicted her very differently. I blinked and sat up in bed.

"Where the fuck am I?" Then I cringed, as there was no way Octavia would swear. Although, the amount of irrational anger I felt towards this woman was definitely out of character as well.

"In the camp at Actium." What? But five seconds ago, I was falling asleep, ready to leave with Antony at dawn.

"Sorry? I was just in Rome, Antony just came to visit."

"You were likely dreaming, that occurred two years ago." Two years ago? Had I time travelled forward? It didn't make sense.

Maybe Cleopatra was right and those were Octavia's memories?

Why had I not just woken up here? Possibly my body was adjusting, and this was its way to help me understand my situation, so I was prepared. Now I wouldn't have to spend time going through the memories before I met anyone. I was quietly impressed with my body's adaptation.

With my mind still reeling with the information, my ears caught sounds outside. It was like waking up as Aikaterine and Cassia, they were preparing for war.

I also tried not to look at Cleopatra, I was worried that I would attack her if Octavia's rage overtook me.

"Ah I can see you harbour strong feelings towards me."

"Why should I not hate you? You stole my husband from me." I couldn't stop Octavia's child-like retort.

"I stole?" Her tone was bright with amusement.

"Ok, to be honest he would probably fall in love with one of my maidservants." I admitted with a grin and she laughed. Despite Octavia's hate, I found myself joining in.

"If I were going to steal anything from you, Octavia. It wouldn't be Marc Antony!" I waited for her to continue.

"I'd take your hair, it's such a gorgeous rich brown." She leaned forward and wrapped a lock of Octavia's brown locks around her finger. I found myself blushing at the compliment, charisma practically emitted from her. I could see why Antony and Caesar had fallen for her.

"Well, I'd take your intelligence," I declared, and she raised an eyebrow in delight.

"My intelligence?"

"It's said that you speak six languages fluently."

"Nine, actually."

"Nine?" My mouth dropped open in disbelief and her smile widened.

"That's amazing!"

"Well, thank you, it's nice to meet someone who doesn't immediately scoff at an educated woman." Cleopatra was an ancient feminist, the things you know.

"Your Majesty." Someone called from the tent flaps and Cleopatra called them in.

A man entered, his armour slightly different to that of Roman and I knew that he was Egyptian. Likely why he had addressed her as 'Your Majesty', I doubted that the other Roman soldiers while loyal to Antony, would see her as their leader.

"Marc Antony is about to make his speech and requires your presence." Cleopatra huffed but stood and held out a hand, I took it and stood up. I dressed quickly and my eye caught on a familiar black box next to the pile of clothes. My mouth tugged upwards secretly. Whilst I still did not know what it did, it gave me some comfort. Cleopatra called out and I hurried to follow her. As we walked to the centre of the camp where a crowd was gathering, I pondered whether this was the speech I had read about in Cassius Dios.