“Yes, I see. Far too many options. Hold me, and dad would do anything. Hold my friends, and I would force dad to do anything. So why did she try and kill me?”
“Events changed her plans,” Gadeem said. “Once she became aware of Quentin’s great fondness for Bast, you became expendable. If she held Rose, she held Bast. With Bast she could control your father. Simple logic. So, Alex, that is why you became expendable. Your father would be used to announce the gold of Caesarion, to the world.”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“He would, Alex, trust me, he would.”
Thinking about how his father had been with Bast, Alex now considered that he probably would, and he said so.
“Once she had what she wanted, she would have let Rose and your father go, then Bast would have been free to leave.”
“Family loyalty?” Emmy asked.
“I wish! She has no loyalty. Freeing them would have been a necessity. Quentin would have been more use alive than dead, and much more importantly, she would not have wanted to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder, because one day I would be standing right there.” Gadeem was becoming emotional at the thought that he could have lost Rose, so she helped him out.
“This might help you make up your mind about Caesarion, Kate. He was never loved by Cleopatra. To tell the truth I am not sure she is even capable of love. Ambition, yes, love, no. He was nothing more than the most useful tool in her toolbox. Through him she could achieve her aims, not his.”
“What has happened to all the gold she stole?” Kate was obviously convinced.
“Actually,” Alex said, “I was wondering why she needed to steal any gold at all, when she already had so much of her own?”
“Those questions I will happily answer,” Ramses said as he attempted to stand, though wisely, he decided to remain seated. “Cleopatra would never take her name off of anything.” Having received nods of understanding from the young adventurers, he continued. “The gold is with the freed workers who are being very well fed, and very well paid, I may add, to restore each piece back to its original condition. We have Cleopatra where we want her for the moment; she will need time to lick her wounds.”
“Then she will come after us? Do we need to be worried?” Kate asked the question that all the young adventurers were now thinking.
“Your turn, Son.”
“Do I have to, Ramses? And please do not call me son!”
“Well, Nakhtifi, you are my son, so tell them!”
“No, none of you need worry about Cleopatra for at least a thousand years, possibly two. It’s the others–”
“First thing you say and you put your foot right in it,” Ramses said as he cut across Nakhtifi.
“I told you I didn’t want to say anything. Why did you force me to speak? You really do abuse your power at times.”
“Ramses,” Kate snapped, drawing his attention her way, “who are ‘the others’, and when were you going to tell us about them?”
“See what you have done now,” Ramses said as he turned to Nakhtifi, “you have ruined the ambience.”
“Sorry, DAD, but it was your fault!”
Ramses pushed the attitude of both Kate and Nakhtifi to one side. “Nothing to worry about, nothing at all. We have it all under control. It’s just that it wasn’t any ancient who found Caesarion.”
“And that is supposed to make us feel better. How?”
“It couldn’t have been an ancient, Kate,” Gadeem said. “Our security at The Meeting Place, at all our places, is well proven and far too tight for any outsider to infiltrate. It’s someone on the inside, within the family, somebody who is living now. We are looking for them.”
“THEM!” Now Kate really was alarmed, they all were.
“Yes, until we have evidence to the contrary, we must presume that we are looking for more than one person.”
“Do you think he, she, they are responsible for my mother’s death?”
“Distinct possibility.” Gadeem nodded his head as he said this.
Alex saw in Gadeem’s eyes that he knew more than he was willing to say. His best way of getting him to say more would be to get Gadeem on his own. Alex knew that Kate had not noticed, as she would never have been able to have kept a still tongue. He was less sure about Emmy and Cairo.
“Let’s get back to celebrating our victory and your return,” Ramses said as desert arrived. The room filled with the smell of sweet delicacies and freshly brewed coffee.
Whereas nobody except Cairo had wanted lunch, they all enjoyed desert, though Alex had to initially push Emmy into eating. Something was obviously worrying her.
“Ramses?”
“Yes, Emmy?”
“The girl. Who was the girl on the camel?” She shuddered. “It was so awful.”
“That is a whole other story.”
Chronology
As relevant to the The Egyptian Adventures of Kathryn Black.
All dates are as noted by Alex.
New Kingdom
This very important period in the history of Egypt gives us some of the most recognised names:
18th Dynasty
This first dynasty of the New Kingdom started in 1550 BC.
Hatshepsut 1473 – 1458
Akhenaton – Dr Margretti 1352 – 1336
Tutankhamun 1336 – 1327
Ay 1327 – 1323
Horemheb 1323 – 1295
19th Dynasty
Seti I 1294 – 1279
1290, the year of Ramses’ birth, and of his red wine.
Ramses II 1279 – 1213
Nakhtifi I Ruled for less than a year before Merenptah.
Merenptah 1213 – 1203
Nakhtifi I Also ruled for less than a year after the death of Merenptah
20th Dynasty
Ramses III 1184 – 1153
The death of Ramses XI in 1069 BC brought the New Kingdom to a close. There would never be another Ramses.
Third Intermediate Period
21st Dynasty
Psusennes I 1039 – 991
From the end of this dynasty in 945 BC there was to be a mixed period of rule, starting with the Libyans.
Late Period
Between 747 and 332 BC Egypt was ruled by Kushites, before the last period of truly Egyptian rule. This ended with the Persian conquest of Egypt in 525 BC.
The Greek Period
Known as the Ptolemaic Period, started with the:
Macedonian Dynasty
Alexander the Great 332 – 305
He was succeeded by two Macedonians before the:
Ptolemaic Dynasty
Ptolemy I to Ptolemy XII – of which six had queens named Cleopatra.
Cleopatra VII Philopator 51 – 30
During Cleopatra’s rule over Egypt:
Julius Caesar became ruler the Roman Empire in 49 BC. Marc Antony was his general.
Caesarion – little Caesar – was born in 47 BC.
Cleopatra had Arsinoe – her sister – killed in 41 BC.
Julius Caesar was assassinated on 15th March 44 BC – the Ides of March. By this time Marc Antony had risen to be second in command of the Roman Empire.
Marc Antony committed suicide in 30 BC, along with Cleopatra.
The Roman Period
Roman rule of Egypt started in 30 BC and finished with the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD.
Also from this Author
You have been reading the fourth in the series of:
The Egyptian Adventures of Kathryn Black
The first three books,
which collectively form the Warlock Trilogy, are:
THE LUXOR CURSE
DEATH IN LUXOR
and
LUXOR LOST and FOUND
All are available worldwide from Amazon
in paperback and for Kindle.
This book is written totally from the imagination of the author, and any resemblance to any person living, dead or very dead is a total coincidence. Rea
l places and names, where used, are also used fictitiously and are intended to add to your enjoyment of the story and nothing more.
For more information, news and a photo gallery of places mentioned in the Kathryn Black adventures do visit:
www.KathrynBlack.co.uk
Table of Contents
Graham Warren
Dedication
Contents
Chapter 1 - Not Again!
Chapter 2 - A Unexpected Death
Chapter 3 - Lack of Sleep
Chapter 4 - The Meeting Place
Chapter 5 - Ancient Briton?
Chapter 6 - Cairo, the City
Chapter 7 - Hacker One
Chapter 8 - Coffee, Cake and Code
Chapter 9 - Quotations!
Chapter 10 - Danger in the Desert
Chapter 11 - Cairo, the Person
Chapter 12 - All That Glitters
Chapter 13 - Back in the Bar
Chapter 14 - Which Way to Tanis?
Chapter 15 - Could It Get Any Worse?
Chapter 16 - Confusion and Chaos
Chapter 17 - Desert Disaster
Chapter 18 - A Big Operation
Chapter 19 - Traitor! Traitor?
Chapter 20 - Captured Again!
Chapter 21 - North South Argument
Chapter 22 - Red Wine and Revelations
Chapter 23 - I Can’t Get Involved
Chapter 24 - I Am Involved!
Chapter 25 - Captured!
Chapter 26 - Suicide and Magic
Chapter 27 - Privileged
Chapter 28 - The Bond of Friendship
Chapter 29 - Under the Sea
Chapter 30 - Kate’s Worst Fear
Chapter 31 - Lovely Boating Weather
Chapter 32 - The Dressing Gown
Chapter 33 - A Trip to the Cinema!
Chapter 34 - She Lives Down There, Kid!
Chapter 35 - Cairo’s Confusion
Chapter 36 - That Changes Things
Chapter 37 - Falling Into Thin Air
Chapter 38 - It’s all in the Voice
Chapter 39 - Cleopatra’s Invite
Chapter 40 - Cleopatra’s Banquet
Chapter 41 - What is it with Plans?
Chapter 42 - Home Sweet Home?
Chronology
Also from this Author
Gold of the Ancients Page 36
