Cleoptra's Revenge

What are you supposed to do when you have a 2,100 year-old ghost haunting you and your family?If you're Kain Drusus you try to ignore her. Unfortunately for Kain the ruthless shade of Cleopatra VII will not be ignored. Not by a long shot. In death Cleopatra has only one desire and that is to see her once mighty empire be reborn. It was her dying wish that the Ancient Gods have been waiting to grant since her final breath. Unfortunately for Cleopatra, Kain wants nothing to do with her schemes.What Kain doesn't know though is that he may not have a choice. For when the Egyptian Gods of old decree something, mortals must obey.

From the Back Cover

High above the realm of mortals and even beyond the world ruled by Anubis and Osiris there was a palace of white alabaster and black marble. There were pillars that surrounded courtyards and porticos. There were even deep pools of crystal blue waters (which were fed by the waters of the Wadje-wer) that were shaded by frothy palm trees. All over the pillars and even along the bottom of the crystal pools the engraved hieroglyphs that were filled with the gleaming metal electrum, and the shining sun seemed to make these characters glow with their own inner magic. For magic is what was held within the carefully carved hieroglyphs - the magic of the ages and the gods. The magic of the very land that they lived in and depended upon. The tables in the dining rooms were filled with dates, pomegranates, and grapes as well as jars of beers and decanters of wine and loaves of bread; all in all there was a feast on the tables fit for the gods themselves. And yet there was no one paying the slightest attention to the feast. Instead there were three people dressed in white linen wearing turquoise jewelry that were standing around a tall marble pool. It was the scene in the pool that held the captivations of those the feast was meant for. The sun was beating heavily on the hot desert sands below - sands that were slowly but surely turning into the color of blood thanks to the occupiers that were taking over the birthright of the pharaohs. Bodies of conscripted infantry and broken chariots were mixed in with the blood of the people at random. Broken bows and spears lay just beyond the grasp of their now deceased owners. It was a truly horrific site that was being observed. The All-knowing and dispassionate eyes of Ra saw everything that was life for his mortal subjects. As he looked over the lands that had been blessed for thousands of years two of his fellow gods and goddess' stood by him. Closest to him stood Ma' at - goddess of truth and justice, on the other side of Ra stood Sekhmet - vengeance and chaos were her traits. Both were here in the royal palace today concerning the affairs of mortals - more precisely one mortal. The pharaoh herself had called upon them with her last breath and with that breath the gods were sworn to do what was asked for of the woman who was one of them personified. She had held their ways in life and they were obliged to grant her wish in death. It had been like that since the first pharaoh all the way until now - the death of the last. A fact that angered Ra and now with the last of them gone from the mortal world he could do little about it, for without direct representation on the earth below the gods were stuck. Yes they were a powerful and omnipotent bunch, but without believers to embody them they could do very little to change what had happened. The immortals watched the sands of Egypt shift as Octavian settled more and more into the land that had been the right of the pharaoh's for more than three thousand years. Ra watched in neutrality as the mortal world shifted before his eyes. The two goddesses with him on the other hand were anything but neutral. They were angry and irate. Their exotically tanned skin and dark eyes seemed to burn with the heat that Ra alone commanded. The trio stood over the viewing pool silently watching the events unfold. The alabaster walls of their palace seemed to shake and tremble with the wrath that the two goddesses were vibrating and eventually Ra knew he had to face the two. With a shake of his regal and often hawk-like head Ra let out a soft sigh before replying, "By all, was it us that the Pharaoh called upon," Ra questioned his companions. His tone was both commanding and horrified at once - it was an intricate combination to be pulled off but Ra did so. How a Roman general could stoop so low as to murder one of his own when the gods had protected the family of Caesar for so long was a mystery to the Sun God. Unfortunately it would remain a mystery for all time. Both deities bowed their heads respectfully before the ire of Ra, but it was Ma'at who answered him in her soft voice, "Yes, Ra Neb. With her final mortal breaths, Cleopatra Philopater called on the ancestors of her forbears for Vengeance and Justice against this wrong that has been done her." The normally calm goddess' voice was cold in tone and it did not reflect the concept of blind justice that she was known to stand for. This was not a good sign as far as Ra was concerned. He would prefer that the Philopater rest after her perilous mortal journey, she had been a good pharaoh and deserved the rest that all pharaoh's earned when they joined the gods. With a bowing of his regal head Ra sighed once more. The pleas of the pharaoh had removed the decision from his hands and he had no choice but to grant Cleopatra VII what she wanted and desired. There wasn't even a reason that Ra could give that wouldn't allow him to grant the mortal Pharaoh's final wish. Cleopatra Philopater had been a good pharaoh. Throughout her life she had bought the blessings of the holy back to the people - she had led by example. And the gods would do her bidding in this matter - for regardless of the time it took to grant the pharaoh her wish it would be granted, the gods would guarantee it. The cycle would continue. Slowly Ra looked up once more and said, "And does she realize the far reaching consequences of her requests of us," he asked to be sure. This was one thing Ra had to know - because he could grant what she wanted and do it very easily but for one such as she who had survived much, one had to be sure. This time it was Ma'at that answered the Sun God, "Indeed Ra Neb. The Philopater knows much of what she asks, even now she has asked Anubis to judge her heart in the spirit of what her people need not what would serve her best." Ma'at's tone seemed to be in awe of the pharaoh of whom she was speaking. The pharaoh that would, one day be one of them - until that day arrived however she would be a mere shade of what she could be. This was nothing small to give up. "Very well then. When Aken delivers her ka to the land watched over by Osiris, and Anubis has judged that she passes the tests he gives, then alone shall you two be allowed to aid her in the quest that she desires." Ra's tone was commanding and his bearing regal. Both goddesses noticed it and they were careful to abide his laws, for no one was known to defy the sun and survive the scorching heat of its retribution.As Ra walked away from the viewing pool the goddesses remained and continued to observe the actions of Octavian and his generals, for knowing his actions would determine the usurper's fate.

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