She looked up at him, squinting as though the brightness hurt her. And softly in Latin, she asked his name.
For a moment he couldn't respond. Her simple tone had evinced a natural intelligence. And it was intelligence now that he beheld in her eyes.
That is, she seemed no longer mad or disoriented. Only a woman suffering.
"Forgive me," he said in Latin." Elliott, Lord Rutherford. In my land, I am a lord."
Shrewdly she studied him. She sat up, and reaching for the folded comforter at the foot of the bed, she brought it up to cover her to the waist. The sunlight sparkled on her black hair, and once again he saw the tendrils dancing about her face.
Her black eyebrows were beautifully drawn, high and just wide enough apart. Her hazel eyes were magnificent.
"May I ask your name?" he said in Latin.
A bitter smile came over her." Cleopatra," she said." In my land, I am a Queen."
The silence shimmered. A soft heat washed through him, utterly unlike the pain of other shocks. He stared into her eyes, unable to answer. And then a great exhilaration seized him, obliterating every fear and regret of his soul.
"Cleopatra," he whispered, awestruck, respectful.
In Latin she said," Speak to me in English, Lord Rutherford. Speak the tongue you spoke to the slave girl. Speak the tongue written there in the book. Bring me food and drink, for I am ravenous."
"Yes," he said in English, nodding to her. He repeated the assent in Latin." Food and drink."
PART 2 Chapter 21
"And you must tell me - " she started, but then stopped. The pain in her side hurt her, and then frantically she touched the wound on her head." Tell me - " she tried again, then looked at him in pure confusion. She was obviously struggling to remember; then panic seized her, and clamping her hands to her head, she closed her eyes and started to weep.
"Here, wait, I have the medicine," he whispered. He eased himself down slowly on the side of the bed. He drew the vial out of his coat. A half inch of fluid remained in it, sparkling unnaturally in the sun.
She studied the vial suspiciously. She watched him open it. He raised it, gendy touching her hair with his left hand; but she stopped him. She pointed to her eyelids and he saw that there were still small places there where the skin appeared eaten away. She took the vial from him, poured a drop or two onto her fingers and smoothed this on her lids.
Elliott narrowed his eyes as he watched the action of the chemical. He could almost hear it, a faint rustling, crackling sound.
Now, desperately, she took the whole vial and poured the fluid over the gaping hole in her chest. She smeared it with her left fingers, whimpering softly, and then lay back, gasping faindy, head tossing on the pillows, then still.
Several minutes passed. He was fascinated by what he saw. But the healing went only so far, then stopped. Her lids, they were now entirely normal, and indeed her lashes were a dark unbroken fringe. But the wound in her side was as evil as ever.
It was only just penetrating to him that she was Cleopatra, that Ramses had stumbled upon the body of his lost love. It was only just coming clear to him why Ramses had done what he had done. Dully he wondered what it meant to have such power. He had dreamed of immortality, but not the power to convey it. And this was the power not only to grant immortality, but to triumph over death.
But the implications ... they staggered him. This creature, what was going on in her mind? Indeed, where had her mind as such come from? God, he had to reach Ramsey!
"I'll get more of the medicine," he said in English, translating it immediately into Latin." I'll bring it here to you, but you must rest now. You must lie here in die sun." He pointed to the window. Using both languages, he explained that the sun was making the medicine work.
Drowsily she looked at him. She repeated his English phrases, mimicking his accent perfectly. But her eyes had a glazed and utterly mad look now. She murmured something in Latin about not being able to remember and then she began to weep again.
He could not bear the sight of it. But what more could he do? As quickly