Kleopatra Read Online Free

can speak Greek.”
    Kleopatra heard everything the Egyptian servants said about her. They interpreted this case of a child of the Greek tyrants
     speaking Egyptian in a number of ominous ways. Perhaps it was evidence of further Greek oppression; the Ptolemies were breeding
     a new race of rulers who would pose as Egyptian sympathizers and deceive the populace all the more. Or, more optimistically,
     Egypt had not fallen to the cultural influence of the Greeks, but the children of the tyrants had finally succumbed to the
     irresistible Egyptian ways. Kleopatra did not know which was correct, but she liked speaking a language her sisters did not
     understand.
    “No one can stand you, you obstinate creature,” Thea said, utterly exasperated. “I wish you were slave-born and could be beaten
     with a whip like you deserve.”
    “Where are my nurses?” cried Kleopatra, suddenly afraid that she had pushed Thea too far. “I want my nurses.”
    “They are waiting for you outside this room, and you will not be allowed to go to them until you do as I say. You have exhausted
     every nurse assigned to you, you strange and terrible child,” said Thea.
    “And such a pretty little girl,” said the Royal Seamstress in a singsong voice that only made Kleopatra angrier. The seamstress
     turned to the dress Kleopatra was to wear and lifted it from the mannequin. Then she turned to Kleopatra. “Come here, my pretty
     princess. Come and try on the beautiful little gown.”
    “No,” said the child, adamant.
    “Do you see how she is?” complained Thea. “As soon as she is left with a governess, the sneaky thing runs away, or yells at
     them in the tongues of the demons. She is not even above biting. The nurses give thanks to the gods when they are relieved
     of the duty.” At present, Kleopatra was in the care of a skinny, sullen Egyptian nurse and two West African female slaves,
     fleet of foot, who handled her with trepidation.
    “You are nothing but bad luck,” said Berenike. “I think it was you who cursed our mother with the fever that killed her.”
    “I did not,” said Kleopatra defensively. “The Egyptians say that I am gifted by the gods and that I will rise into the sky
     and become a star.” Kleopatra hoped this was not true. She did not want to be a placid object whose only job was to shine
     in the heavens.
    “I wish you would hurry up and go!” said Thea.
    “I will not. Because my father would miss me too much if I left.” Even the governesses said that. “I am his favorite, you
     know.”
    She had heard other rumors, too:
    She was a newborn goddess. She was the savior of the Egyptian people who would wear Pharaoh’s crown and drive the Greeks out
     of the land. That one she did not like, for that meant that she would have to cast out her own father. But she would not stop
     speaking the different tongues, for Auletes himself said that her gifts were a blessing. My princess is touched by the gods,
     he would say, for the Lord Dionysus speaks to us in all tongues. That is true, Thea would reply. But surely the princess Kleopatra
     must be instructed to hold hers.
    Now Thea put her clenched fists on her waist and faced Kleopatra in a showdown. “Today is my wedding day. I do not have time
     to play your games.”
    Thea called the two attendants into the room. “She must be fitted into her gown, even if she has to be held down.” The two
     women exchanged worried looks.
    The seamstress held the gown high above Kleopatra’s head. “Come, Your Highness,” came the voice from behind the dress.
    “Come, Kleopatra,” Thea said. “Please do as you are told.”
    The small princess saw the dress coming toward her as if a monster in a dream, a big garish thing waiting to swallow her whole.
     She raised her arms, but when the fabric fell over her body it felt as if it singed her skin. Believing that it would set
     her aflame, she tore the gown from her little body before the seamstress could fasten it. She