The House of the Rising Sun

Chapter Twenty-One: A Dock of Surprises

Chapter Twenty-One: A Dock of Surprises

Selene

I didn’t know where to turn. So I just ran straight home. Rocks dug into the soles of my bare feet but I kept running and I didn’t stop. Tears clouded my vision and it was hard to see, but I knew the streets of Alexandria like I knew the back of my hand. I didn’t stop running even when I almost ran into a chariot. When I got home I ran right past Sosigenes and straight to the garden with the pool. I fell to the ground in front of the steps that led into the pool.

“GODS!” I cried. “Why do you take him away from me? Gods! WHY?” I looked up to the ibises on the water. They were unperturbed despite my cries. I lied down and buried my face in my crossed arms. Why was he being taken from me? What had I done?! Please don’t take Alexander away from me!

“Because of you he has betrayed Rome!” Mark Antony had said.

“I didn’t mean”—

“You insolent child!” he had yelled. Anubis growled, Mark Antony yelled at the dog fiercely, and Anubis ran away in fear. “Because of you Alexander is in prison!”

“It was only a misundersta”—

“I told him specifically that he wasn’t supposed to be out flirting with Egyptian girls. I don’t care if Julius Caesar did that! Alexander has to lead a life for himself!”

“Maybe he wanted to change the stigma of a relationship between an Egyptian and a Roman!” At this point, Mark Antony tried to cut me off again but I continued. “Is that not leading a life for himself?!”

Mark Antony raised a hand as if to hit me, and I braced myself, but the blow never came. “Take me to him,” Mark Antony growled.

After Mark Antony yelled at me I dared not speak to Alexander for fear of his rage. Mark Antony was not a man anyone wanted to anger. It was always the way I thought the wrath of the gods would have felt. Terrifying and something you would NEVER want to invoke.

“GODS! Horus! Isis! Thoth! Ma’at! Hathor! Khnum! Khepri! Anubis! RA! Why must he be taken from me?!”

“Why do you let him slip away?” asked another voice. The voice was warm, almost motherly. I looked up and saw Nofre-Ari sitting regally at the other end of the pool and…no one else. She and I were alone in the garden.

“…Wh…what?” I asked.

“Meow,” Nofre-Ari said knowingly. Perhaps it had been the voice of the gods answering me back. I don’t know.

“Selene,” said a voice to the entrance of the garden. I looked up and I saw Kerpheres. Wonderful. Hey, gods that are up there, are you enjoying this?

“What are you doing here?” I demanded. His wasn’t the voice I had heard. He stepped forward into the garden and stood right next to where I was lying. I sat up.

“I just wanted to apologize for everything that’s happened,” he said sadly. I looked up at him.

“What…?” I breathed. He offered me a hand to stand and I took it. We were really close.

“I said I wanted to apologize for sending your friend—your lover—to prison. I thought he was trying to”—

“I know very well what you thought he was trying to do. And what gives you the impression that he’s my lover?” I snarled. “I’m betrothed to Amen”—

“No you’re not,” Kerpheres said softly. “Selene, in this situation, I know more than you think I do.” His voice was not mean. He sounded almost sad. “I know an engagement to Amenemhet was just a cover up for your love of that Roman man.”