Centurion's Rise (41 page)

Under the cover
of darkness, Hastelloy led Valnor and a team of twelve soldiers now highly skilled at slipping into places without notice.  They made their way to the base of the protective wall surrounding the city of Alexandria.  The coordinated movement of Hastelloy’s navy and Valnor’s army succeeded in boxing Cleopatra and Tomal into a very tight spot. 

A week earlier, Tomal organized one final assault against Valnor’s appro
aching army but his forces were summarily annihilated.  Tomal now had the remnants of his forces shuddering behind the imposing defensive walls of Alexandria and they were settling in for a long siege.  Hastelloy and Valnor had other, more expedient, designs.

Hastelloy took a moment to catch his breath
while leaning against the wall.  Finally, he stepped back to examine the rough cut stone that rose fifty feet straight up and stood fifteen feet thick.  No amount of catapult bombardment would even make a dent.  That left only two options: surround the city and spend the next few years starving them out, or sneak in and open the city gates from within.  On this night, Hastelloy planned to do the latter.

Ideally
, Hastelloy would attach fifty feet of rope to a grappling hook, throw the business end up over the wall to establish an anchor from which to climb.  The problem was metal clanking against stone tended to make a lot of noise and therefore counterproductive to the stealthy endeavor.  This left him with the unenviable task of attempting a free climb.

In every aspect, this particular climb would be a thrill seeker
’s dream.  No safety devices or climbing tools would be used given the noise they produced.  On top of this, he wasn’t able to inspect the climb site beforehand to plot the easiest path.  And to truly make it a challenge, he was going to attempt this unaided, unprotected, virgin climb under the shroud of darkness.

Hastelloy looked over at a very nervous Valnor
and whispered some words of assurance that he most definitely did not feel in his heart.  “Childs play.  Now give me the rope.”

Hastelloy
slung the sixty feet of rope over his right shoulder, took a deep breath, and then leapt as high as he could up the wall.  He dug his finger tips into the half inch gap between a set of stones.  His big toes then found just enough of a foothold to support his weight while his hands searched higher for another hold. 

Unfortunately
, the masons who built the wall were adequate to the task and didn’t leave much room between stones.  Still, their work left seams and afforded Hastelloy’s strong hands and toes enough room to work.  He strictly adhered to the tenets of free climbing and always kept at least two limbs firmly anchored to the wall while searching for the next hold.

Time
moved slowly as every cell and nerve ending became one with the wall.  The level of concentration needed was not difficult to summon considering what was at stake.  If Hastelloy leaned too far back, he would fall.  If he relaxed his fingers or toes, he would fall.  If he even coughed too hard the sudden convulsion would probably cause him to fall.  Slowly, methodically, Hastelloy made like a large spider and scaled the flat faced wall.

All went as planned until a particularly fragile handhold broke loose as his other hand a
nd right leg were on the move.  Hastelloy’s left foot managed to remain steady on the narrow outcropping just long enough for him to reposition his right hand and foot to prevent a fall.

By the time he reached the top Ha
stelloy’s calf and forearm muscles were screaming for relief, but he forced himself to take it slowly.  He worked his right hand up over the top of the wall.  He then extended his legs to their full height allowing his head to rise over the wall’s edge just enough to confirm no guards happened to be stationed near enough to notice his movements.

Hastelloy then hoisted the rest of his body up and over the edge onto solid stone for the first time in
over a half hour.  He shook the stiffness out of his arms, then shrugged the rope from his shoulder.  He tied one end around his waist, threw the other over the side, and then braced against the wall while the rest of his team made the relatively easy climb up the rope to join him.

Once the last climber made it safely to the top, Hastelloy untied the rope and tossed i
t over the wall’s edge to remove any evidence of their covert entry.  The fourteen man assault team waited for a set of guards to move away from the nearest stairs and then made their way to ground level and into the dark city streets.

The palace of Cleopatra was not hard to locate
given all the noise and commotion rising from the not so humble abode.  In true Tomal fashion, the palace was host to a lavish party that still raged on in the early morning hour.  The stealthy group had no difficulty gaining entry amid the clamor and commotion.  Valnor led everyone into Cleopatra’s cavernous bed chamber. 

The roof of the thousand square foot room was held up by two sets of four columns disguised as enormous statues of
Anubis running along the outside walls.  The columns to the left gave way to an open air balcony overlooking the vast city.  To the right were two doors separated by a long expanse of brightly painted wardrobe closets.  The center of the chamber featured two reclining couches straddling a floor rug.  Against the far wall rested the queen’s bed frame featuring golden birds with wings caressing the two corners where her head would rest.  The queen appeared to have an odd fetish for venomous snakes.  Dozens of cages ringed the room’s perimeter with vipers both thick and thin, long and short sprinkled throughout.

Hastelloy stole away in
to the first door on the right and entered an adjacent room where Tomal clearly spent his nights, as evidenced by the inordinate number of plush pillows.  The man definitely had a weakness for comfortable bedding Hastelloy thought while he waited for Tomal’s late night exertions to end.

An hour passed before Tomal and the queen of queens came staggering into the bed chamber.  Both were drunk beyond any point of reason and executed a symbiotic waltz to the bed as neither was capable of walking on their own, let alone in a straight line.

Once the two landed on Cleopatra’s bed, Hastelloy and his men observed from the shadows that both were coherent enough to engage in an hour of ape like jungle sex that would have caused even a voyeuristic peeping tom to blush.  During his forty years of marriage to Mosa as they wandered the desert with the freed Hebrew slaves, Hastelloy had countless occasions to make love to his wife.  Those moments were tender and full of love and devotion.  What he observed in Tomal and his queen was lust wrapped in violent, destructive passion.

The discipline of Hastelloy and his men held true.  They all quietly looked on as the two animalized each
other and then passed out in a collective heap of exposed flesh.  The quiet discipline held strong through the night and into the early morning light when Tomal finally awoke from his stupor.

The hangover Tomal felt must have been particularly debilitating considering he unwrapped himself from a strikingly beautiful naked woman without attempting to rouse her for another roun
d.  Slowly he rose from the bed and shuffled his way into the next room to get ready for the day. 

Tomal opened a trunk
sitting at the foot of the cluster of pillows that made up his bed, withdrew a short white skirt, and put on the effeminate garment.  As Tomal reached back into the trunk to select from a plethora of silk shirts, Hastelloy stepped out of the shadows to make his presence known.

“
I’d go with the blue one.  It accentuates the charcoal makeup around your eyes
,” Hastelloy mocked in his Novan language from over Tomal’s shoulder.

Without any sign of alarm, Tomal made his choice, rose to his full height and put a shimmering royal blue
silk shirt on over his head. 

“You should have killed me in my sleep,”
Tomal yawned while taking a seat at the edge of his bed to fasten a set of cork sandals to his feet while behaving as though he didn’t have a care in the world.  He then switched language to Latin and continued.  “Now, once I am done getting dressed, I’m going to fetch the guards and have you run through.  Then I’ll take back what’s mine.”

“
You probably shouldn’t do that,” Hastelloy cautioned.  “Someone you care for might get hurt.”

Tomal snapped his head up to protest the assertion that he cared in the least about Hastelloy’s wel
l-being, but held his tongue when he saw his former commander nod and point toward Cleopatra’s bed.  Tomal dashed at once to bring his queen into view.  An involuntary gasp escaped his lips when he saw twelve assassins surrounding his slumbering queen with daggers drawn.

Tomal spun around,
fists cocked, and swung with all the rage of a ravenous tiger set free from its cage.  Hastelloy casually stepped into the blow to trap the swing under his armpit.  He then spun in step with Tomal’s charge to send his attacker flying onto the overly soft bed.

“I’m not here to kill you, or her,” Hastelloy said with his hands raised in a disarming pose.  “I just want to talk.”

“There’s nothing left to say,” Tomal barked through heaving breaths while scampering back to his feet.  “You know where I stand.”

“Yes, I do,” Hastelloy confirmed.  “And I was content to let your adolescent rebellion run its course so long
as you still served our mission, but you’ve gone completely off the reservation.  You’re serving a loyal agent of the Alpha, damn it, now get your head on straight and snap out of it.”

“First you accuse Caesar of being controlled by the Alpha,
and now Cleopatra?” Tomal snarled.  “The Alpha on this world have been dead for two millennia, it’s preposterous.  Now answer me this, why do you insist on going after anyone who enriches my life?  It’s beneath you and utterly pathetic.”

“You mean anyone who brings you possessions, money, and notoriety,” Hastelloy countered.  “Things you desire above all else.  Did you ever stop to consider how convenient all
your good fortune has been?  Think about it objectively.  Think how easy you made it for the Alpha to manipulate you into doing their bidding.

“Caesar gave me brotherhood and friendship,” Tomal fired back.  “Cleopatra lavishes me with love and devotion.”

“I saw you two last night,” Hastelloy said with a disapproving glare.  “That was lust, not love.  And you’re a fool to think she bears a single ounce of devotion to you.”

Tomal shook his head in frustrated disbelief. 
“You’re a terrible liar.”

“She abandoned you at Actium,” Hastelloy offered.

“The battle was lost,” Tomal said.  “Her ships blasted a hole through your lines securing an escape for her sizeable fleet and the remnants of mine.  That’s prudence not abandonment.”

“
Her ships never fired a shot.  I gave her that opening to run through so I could send the bulk of your fleet to the bottom at my leisure.  She saw the opportunity to save her own skin so she took it because she’s an opportunist and that’s all she will ever be.”

“Oh sod off with that drivel,” Tomal shrugged.

  “She seduced her brother, then Caesar, and now you to enhance her wealth and power.  You’re a tool for her, nothing more.  In fact, I’ll wager my command on this planet that if given the opportunity to sell you out to save her own skin, she’ll pounce on it.”

“
Never,” Tomal declared.

“
Then you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain,” Hastelloy said and then extended an unwavering hand to certify the wager.  “If I’m right, you’ll return to the Nexus and accept your next assignment without question or complaint.  If you’re right, I’ll turn my command authority on this planet over to you.”

As if pulled by strings, t
he corners of Tomal’s scowl snapped up.  His fortunes just turned from certain defeat, to imminent victory since in his mind Cleopatra’s devotion to him was beyond reproach.

Tomal
snatched Hastelloy’s hand and gave it an enthusiastic shake, “Agreed.”

Hastelloy
then gestured toward a dark corner of the room that housed a collection of decorative vases.  Each was taller and rounder than a man and provided the perfect vantage point to watch the queen sleeping only twenty paces away.  “Then let us tend to our wager.”

Once the two
voyeurs finished settling into position, Hastelloy tapped his dagger twice against the tiled floor sending Valnor into the open.

Where Hastelloy
once saw a fragile, insecure kid in Valnor, he now viewed from across the room a confident man who clearly knew his place as the undisputed master of Rome.  He marched into the room with his chin up, shoulders square, and eyes carrying a strength of will rarely witnessed in the annals of history.

Valnor
moved towards Cleopatra, who lay face down on top of her bed sheets; naked as the day she was born.  Even at this distance, Hastelloy could see the woman’s exquisite muscle definition which was only accentuated by the deep copper hue of her delicate skin.  She radiated an undeniable beauty even while unconscious and mooning those looking upon her.

When Valnor reached Cleopatra’s bedside
he delivered an ear piercing slap to the woman’s bare behind. 

“Get up witch,” Valnor commanded while the sound of flesh smacking flesh still resonated about the room. 
Hastelloy watched the sleeping beauty’s eyes snap open with the blow while Valnor stood over her casually massaging the palm of his striking hand. 

Cleopatra’s head lay
still with her left cheek against the bed looking away from Valnor, toward Hastelloy’s hiding place.  Her eyes remained transfixed on the corner for a few anxious heartbeats, but then she slowly lifted her head and turned the other direction to view the one who delivered the unwelcome blow. 

“Your foreplay leaves something to be desi . . .” she fell silent
the moment her brain realized the man standing there was not her lover.  She instinctively scurried across the bed while still laying flat to conceal her nudity as best she could.  She looked about for guards to summon, but only found a ring of assassins with blades drawn.

Her state of panic abated when
she looked upon the intruder with a more thorough eye.    “Your foreplay leaves something to be desired.” she finished with a coy stare. 

“You know who I am?” Valnor asked, more as a statement of fact than a question.

Cleopatra regarded the
query with a calculating silence and then allowed a demure smile to blossom across her lips while her eyes delivered a contrasting message of lewd intent.  “I doubt there is a soul in the civilized world who wouldn’t recognize Octavian, the great man of Rome.” 

She rolled onto her side,
turning her back on Hastelloy and Tomal in the corner, providing Valnor with quite a show.  She came to rest upon one elbow to accentuate the hour glass curvature of her waist and hips while her top leg crossed over the lower to keep her privy parts ever so slightly hidden. “Since your soldiers have not hauled me away for execution I take it you want something from me.”

Hastelloy felt an overwhelming urge
to point out the shameless flirtation for Tomal’s benefit, but the snarl and bright red hue searing through the engineers cheeks let Hastelloy know words were not necessary.  The action of his devoted queen delivered an adequate slap to the man’s pride all by itself.

Valnor regarded the naked queen with a satisfied chuckle. 
Without paying her a second glance, he paced over to a nearby chair, grabbed a silk robe folded over the backrest and tossed the garment to its owner.  “Cover up,” he ordered.  “I’ve had better, and from women who didn’t share a bed with my father.”

Cleopatra pulled the robe up close and held it over her chest, but move
d no farther as she still must have held faith in her seductive prowess.  Valnor only looked more annoyed.  “Damn it woman, your offer for sloppy seconds is rejected.  Now stop embarrassing yourself.”

That did the trick
and prompted the queen to sit up with her legs curled under.  She hastily threw on the robe, and then got to her feet and stood in front of Valnor.  “What is it you want then: food, gold, jewels?”

“Keep going,” Valnor prompted.

“Land, stone quarries, ore mines,” she went on.

Valnor’s raised eyebrows prodded her to keep going, but she fell
silent with a perplexed look, but then an epiphany hit her, “My son.  I’ll give you Caesarion so you no longer have a challenger for Caesar’s estate and name.”

“
I’ll have Caesarion and
him
,” Valnor commanded. “Mark Antony is nowhere to be found so I need you to deliver him to me.”

Valnor turned and took a few paces away and then, almost as an afterthought,
spun back around and carelessly twirled his hand in the air between them, “And all that other stuff you mentioned earlier.”

Cleopatra’s posture
markedly improved at the notion of Valnor’s bargain.  “If you name me as regent of these lands and I’m allowed to keep one tenth of the treasury and annual trade income you will get your man.”

Hastelloy felt Tomal’s body go rigid next to him in their hiding corner.
  Had his nose been a teapot, a shrill whistle would have sounded as Tomal’s anger came to a boil.

“How?
” Valnor asked of Cleopatra.

“We’
ll make it seem as though I escaped during the night,” Cleopatra conspired.  “Antony and I have prearranged communication channels in case the city fell and we got separated.  He’ll eventually establish contact allowing us to meet and you to capture your man.”

At that moment,
Tomal’s rage consumed him.  Tomal shoved the huge vase he hid behind with everything he had, causing it to rotate forward and crash on the stone floor with an ear piercing shatter. 

“You
venomous viper!” Tomal hollered as he stormed forward into the room paying no attention to the minefield of jagged shards of clay littering his path.  “I sheltered you in my arms only to feel the sting of your fangs dig into my neck.”

“Antonius, my love, I . . .” Cleopatra began.

“Don’t!” Tomal snapped as the crunch of his footfalls drew closer to his prey.  “We’re all just expendable assets in place for your benefit: Caesarion, me, everyone.” 

Before Cleopatra could utter a word of protest, Tomal shouldered
his way past Valnor and grasped the woman around her throat with both hands.  “You’re dead to me, and now it’s time to make you so for the rest of the world.”

Just when Tomal began to squeeze the life out of her in earnest, Hastelloy thrust his arms under Tomal’s armpits and clasped his hands behind his head to wrench him away from Cleopatra.  Hastelloy maintained the full nelson hold to ensure Tomal did not break free and finish his murderous intent.

“Leave us,” Valnor said to his soldiers.  “Open the city gates
and commence the assault,” he ordered to them on their way out of the bed chamber, leaving the room’s four occupants to their private discussion.

Cleopatra
coughed and gasped as she tried to recover from her ordeal.  Finally, through her labored breathing, she asked, “What is the meaning of this?”

“A test,” Valnor arrogantly answered.  “And I’m sorry to say you failed in spectacular fashion
, my dear, considering your former boy toy now wants you dead.”

Valnor went on with an acerbic tone, “Plus I needed to see what you were willing to give up to stay in power.  Now that I know everything is on the table, allow me to
begin the negotiations.”

Hastelloy watched the
queen of Egypt glance around the room, probably looking for a hole to crawl into.  She knew she’d played every card in her hand and was still on the losing end of things; now she needed to eat crow and the prospect revolted her.

When her eyes finished their pass over the furniture, rugs, dark corners
, and cages about the room, she leveled a stare toward Valnor so hateful it must have drawn venom from every caged viper and asp in the room.  Valnor was immune it seemed.

“I require only three things to convince me to leave you as ruler of Egypt,” Valnor offered.  “First, you will declare Caesarion an illegitimate bastard and relinquish all ties to my father, Gaius Julius Caesar.  Do this, and your son will live.”

Cleopatra’s eyes softened noticeably at the notion of her son remaining among the living as Valnor
continued.  “Second, you will turn over half the treasury and annual income of Egypt to me.”

She
was thoroughly unsuccessful at suppressing a smile upon hearing the unexpected leniency of the second concession.  Minutes before she offered to turn over ninety percent of her wealth, Octavian was only demanding half.

“The final, and
by far least significant, peace offering I require from you is the return of the religious relic of Jupiter, king of the gods, to me,” Valnor concluded.

The queen’s enthusiastic glow dimmed to a blank, puzzled look, “Your terms are most generous, but I know nothing of any religious artifact.”

“Don’t play coy with me, woman,” Valnor barked.  “You know I speak of the flowing, metallic fire that served as my father’s spiritual advisor.  He instructed you to conceal it upon his death.  I will have my father’s most prized possession back.”

“I don’t . .
.” Cleopatra attempted to say but a sharp slap to the face from Valnor rendered her silent.

“This is not open for debate,” Valnor hollered mere inches from her
cowering face.  “Give it to me now or things will get real damned ugly. 

“Have y
ou ever had the experience of being raped by an entire Roman legion in a single day?” Valnor asked in a voice that left frost in the otherwise warm desert air.  “Deny me again and you’ll know that unpleasantness intimately well.  Over and over again until I get what I want.”

“He warned me another like my dear Antonius would come some day
,” Cleopatra finally said, “Another agent of evil and destruction; another heartless, all consuming, abomination of nature.”

“Oh gods, it’s true,” Tomal sighed.  “Oh gods
, what have I done?”

Hastelloy felt him no longer straining against his hold so he let his devastate
d engineer collapse to the ground in deep, heaving sobs as he curled into the fetal position against Cleopatra’s bed.  Hastelloy crouched down, snatched both sides of Tomal’s head and forced the blubbering heap of a man to look him in the eyes.

“You hear that, Tomal
; they used you,” Hastelloy said, venting all the angst and frustration the man caused him over recent years.  “Your arrogance, greed, and insecurity let the Alpha control your every move.  You performed deeds for them that would make a paid whore blush with utter humiliation.  You failed us all, now own it while I clean up your mess yet again.”