“Because when I first came to Maldara and was trying to get a handle on how to keep Zahra from kicking all those villagers out of their homes, I had to understand her. I didn’t even come close until Gideon told me about Kiya. Then it started to come together. In many ways, Zahra is Kiya. With a generous sprinkling of Cleopatra thrown in.”
“How?”
“You take a psychotic personality and throw in the idea that nothing is forbidden and everything is your right to take. The final result you come up with is a very dangerous woman. Zahra really admires Cleopatra, you know. If you look deeper into who Cleopatra really was, you can see the similarities. She wasn’t the gorgeous, tragic queen that the movies portrayed. Intelligent, yes. And she possessed a kind of glamour that had its own attraction. But she killed her brother and sister. There were even rumors that she might have killed her own father. No one counts how many of her slaves bit the dust. Food tasters were a way of life, and any cruel indulgence was allowed with slaves. According to Kiya’s journal, Cleopatra even threatened her with death and torture innumerable times when she was angry with her. It didn’t matter that Kiya was her daughter.”
“Gideon said that you appreciated the literary aspects of her journal,” Eve said. “Do you think it was fact or fiction?”
“It…was persuasive.”
“But Cleopatra only had one daughter, Selene, who later became Queen of Mauretania.”
“Only one acknowledged daughter,” Jill said. “According to Kiya, she was the result of a sexual liaison between Cleopatra and a soldier in her army while Caesar was away. She gave Kiya to her slaves to raise, and later, Kiya herself served as a slave to Cleopatra. Evidently, she wasn’t treated too badly. Cleopatra ordered her named Kiya after Queen Kiya, who was a queen to Akhenaten during the Eighteenth Dynasty. She was one of Cleopatra’s favorite ancestors because she was known as the Beloved Wife. Other of his queens were called royal and powerful, and Nefertiti was famous for her beauty, but Cleopatra thought Akhenaten probably loved Kiya more. Wherever her name was inscribed, it was followed by Beloved Wife. Anyway, maybe Cleopatra wanted to tell her daughter she loved her even though she’d made her a slave. At times, Cleopatra actually did show her affection.” She added ironically, “Providing Kiya kept in mind her lowly place in the scheme of things.”
“Which would have been very painful considering that she knew she was Cleopatra’s daughter.”
“True. But she seemed to have inherited Cleopatra’s toughness because she adapted and played her mother’s game while she waited for her chance.”
“Chance?”
“To be a queen herself.” Jill finished her lo mein and pushed the carton away. “I wonder if she actually managed to outthink Cleopatra, or if she took advantage of circumstances.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Great Journey.” Jill leaned back. “What do you know about how Cleopatra died?”
“What everyone knows. When she knew Octavian was on his way to capture her, she locked herself in her mausoleum and committed suicide by letting an asp bite her.”
Jill nodded. “Partially right, according to what Kiya related in her journal. Not complete enough. No one gives more than a mention to the slaves she took with her into the mausoleum to die with her. They were the maids Eiras and Charmion. But there was one more slave who went with her.”
Eve stiffened. “Kiya?”
“According to Kiya’s journal, she went there with her mother by her own choice. She makes a point of saying she felt it her duty to do whatever her mother wished her to do. Or whatever seemed wisest.” She paused. “Do you know what else is seldom mentioned? Cleopatra’s burial treasure that was in the mausoleum. One of the greatest treasures ever compiled. That was why Octavian was rushing to reach her—he needed that treasure.”
Eve stared at Jill, guessing where this was going. “And did he get it?”
“Oh, yes, it was a vast treasure, and he was very pleased with it.” She smiled. “And, according to Kiya’s journal, there was so much that Octavian never even missed the wagonload of treasure that was taken out of the mausoleum during the time before Cleopatra actually got around to committing suicide.”
“My, my,” Eve murmured. “Kiya, again?”
Jill nodded. “Remember her line about whatever was wisest to do? It seems that what was wisest for Kiya to do was not to kill herself with Cleopatra. Her mother had sent Caesarion, her son