Charlie Thorne and the Curse of Cleopatra Read online

  For my father, Ronald Gibbs, who taught me to love history and science

  It has forever been preferable to attribute a woman’s success to her beauty rather than to her brains.

  —STACY SCHIFF,

  “Rehabilitating Cleopatra”

  PROLOGUE

  August 10

  30 BC

  Alexandria, Egypt

  Cleopatra was running out of time.

  As her royal procession passed through the streets of Alexandria, she could think of only one course of action. It was drastic, but she had no other choice.

  Over the past few months, she had suffered many cruel twists of fate. Now the gods had delivered a final one: She had been betrayed.

  Cleopatra was returning home after visiting the tomb of her second husband, the Roman general Mark Antony, who she had buried only a week before. She’d had to beg for the privilege of even doing that, as she was being held prisoner in her own palace. For years, she and Antony had been allies in a war against Octavian for control of the Roman Empire, but they had lost. Ten days earlier, the final blow had been struck; their army and navy had gone to confront Octavian’s superior forces—and promptly switched sides. Octavian and his soldiers were now camped outside the city while his ships blockaded the harbor. Cleopatra was trapped. All she could do now was negotiate the terms of her surrender.

  Luckily, she had something that Octavian wanted.

  Every ruler of Rome had coveted it, as had the leaders of all rival kingdoms to Egypt. Mark Antony had come to Alexandria seeking it, as had Julius Caesar and many others before him. Cleopatra had never given it up; it was the key to her power. But now Octavian had leverage over her: her children.

  Cleopatra had four. Her oldest, Caesarion, was seventeen, the son of the great Julius Caesar himself and the true heir to the Roman Empire. Then, there were her children with Mark Antony: Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene, and Ptolemy Philadelphus. Cleopatra had sent each of them into hiding before Octavian had reached Alexandria; they had scattered across Egypt, accompanied by guards and tutors she trusted. But despite their head start, she knew they could never be completely safe; Octavian’s forces would scour the world for them.

  And so, two days before, Cleopatra and Octavian had reached an agreement. She would give him the treasure he desired; in return, he would let Cleopatra continue to rule Egypt—and allow her children to live. Caesarion would never rule Rome, but the Ptolemy Dynasty would survive.

  However, Octavian had lied.

  Cleopatra held the proof in her hands. A message from a spy inside Octavian’s camp. It had been slipped to her at Mark Antony’s tomb. Octavian intended to go back on his word, take Cleopatra and her family prisoner, drag them to Rome, and parade them through the streets as a display of Rome’s power.

  Throughout the world, even in Rome itself, many people considered Cleopatra more than human. They thought her to be a goddess, the living incarnation of Isis. If Octavian could make her his captive, he could conquer the entire world.

  Then, at the end of the parade, he would execute her. And her family as well.

  Cleopatra wasn’t surprised. She had suspected Octavian would betray her. That was why she had placed spies in his camp—and why she had taken other precautions to protect the great treasure of the Ptolemy Dynasty. Now it was time to put those careful plans in action.

  A goddess did not walk through the streets of Alexandria. Instead, as the procession returned to the royal palace from Mark Antony’s tomb, Cleopatra was being carried. She rode in a luxurious chair, gilded in gold and jewels, shaded from the sun, and borne on the shoulders of her soldiers. “Grigorotera!” she ordered them, not in Egyptian but in Greek.

  Even though Cleopatra’s family had ruled Egypt for nearly three centuries, they were not Egyptian. They were from Macedonia, direct descendants of Alexander the Great. In fact, Cleopatra was the first Ptolemy who had even bothered to learn Egyptian at all.

  Her soldiers picked up their pace and hurried through the streets.

  Cleopatra’s subjects gathered along the way, cheering as she passed, crying out in joy when they caught so much as a glimpse of her. She did not smile or wave to them but instead projected calm, doing her best to hide her inner turmoil.

  She tried to savor the sights of Alexandria as her procession went by them: the glistening marble temples of Isis, the immense lighthouse that towered over the harbor, the elaborate Caesarium she had built to honor Julius. Alexandria was the greatest city in the world, the center of education and commerce, a crossroads where people of all nationalities gathered, taught, celebrated, and made fortunes. It was beautiful and clean, unlike Rome, which was dusty, ugly, and built in a swamp. Even now, it was shocking to Cleopatra that Rome had managed to conquer her empire.

  That was because the Romans cared for nothing but war. They had little interest in art, music, architecture, or culture. Children in Alexandria, boys and girls alike, got the finest education in the world, while Roman boys began training for battle almost as soon as they could walk.

  Cleopatra’s procession wound through the royal quarter, passing her lavish palace and heading instead to a building she had ordered to be constructed only recently. It was a two-story, windowless box, nowhere near as grand as many of the other structures in Alexandria. But then, it had not been built for beauty.

  The soldiers lowered Cleopatra’s chair to the ground before it. The queen of Egypt stepped out, called for her two most trusted servants, Iras and Charmion, then entered the building with them and ordered them to bolt the doors behind her.

  This was highly unusual. The two women instantly understood what was happening; Cleopatra had warned them of her drastic plans for an instance such as this. But neither woman showed any fear; it was their duty to serve Cleopatra no matter what.

  Outside the building, things were different. Cleopatra’s other servants and soldiers sensed that something was wrong; concerns were voiced, speculations were made, and rumors quickly spread.

  And one young Egyptian, fearing the worst, raced back through the streets of Alexandria to Octavian’s camp.

  * * *

  Inside the building, Iras and Charmion went to work. They dressed Cleopatra in her most regal robe and placed her crown upon her head. Then they opened a golden box and removed the glass vial that had been hidden inside it.

  All around them the riches of Egypt glinted, each more rare and beautiful than the last. Gemstones, works of art, Cleopatra’s royal robes—and gold. Tons and tons of gold.

  Over the past few weeks, it had all been delivered here in secrecy.

  And below it all, under the floor beneath them, was something else Cleopatra had covertly arranged for: kindling.

  Cleopatra was troubled by her failure in the war against Octavian, but she had no regrets over how she had ruled. She was only thirty-nine but had been the queen of Egypt for over half of her life. Twenty-two years. A decade longer than even Alexander the Great had ruled. During her reign, there had never been an uprising. She had led wisely and been respected by her subjects, and by leaders around the world.

  Now all that she had left to do was protect her most valuable treasure from Octavian.

  Cleopatra’s servants had been experimenting with various poisons for some time, fearing this day would come. They had even toyed with the idea of having an asp bite her, but feared the snake wouldn’t do what Cleopatra wanted in her moment of need.

  The vial she held in her hand would be far more effective.

  Cleopatra ordered her servants to set the kindling on fire. It caught quickly. Almost instantly, the floor was warm and smoke was billowing through it.

>   Despite this, Iras and Charmion remained calm. It would be their honor to die serving their queen.

  Cleopatra was not quite so relaxed. She was dismayed by the thought that she would never see her children again. She feared the plans she had made to keep them—and her treasure—safe from Octavian would not succeed. But there was nothing more she could do to protect them—except to take her secrets with her to the great beyond.

  While her mausoleum burned around her, the queen of Egypt drank her poison and imagined how horrified Octavian would be when he learned what she had done.

  * * *

  He was.

  The man who would rule Rome was not an impressive sight. He was only thirty-three, pale and puny. He hated being out in the sun and always wore a floppy, wide-brimmed hat to protect his fair skin. In the heat of Egypt, he was wilting.

  When he learned that Cleopatra had locked herself inside her mausoleum with only her two most-trusted servants, Octavian immediately realized that she had either learned of his plans to betray her—or deduced them on her own. He sprang from his throne and exited his tent, only to see the telltale column of smoke billowing into the air.

  Enraged, he ordered his men to hurry across the city. Then he leapt astride his own horse and galloped ahead of his army.

  By the time he reached the mausoleum, it was consumed by fire, blazing out of control.

  Still, he ordered his men to douse the flames. Bucket brigades were formed, hauling water from the harbor, but it was no use. Within an hour, the building collapsed. By the time the fire was out, almost nothing remained but smoldering rubble.

  Octavian ordered his men to search it anyhow. They recovered some of the gems and melted heaps of gold. The gold wasn’t in good shape, but it was still worth many times more than what lay in Octavian’s own vaults back in Rome.

  However, the great treasure that Octavian truly desired wasn’t there. Perhaps Cleopatra had hidden it elsewhere. Or maybe it had been destroyed in the fire. Whatever the case, it was gone.

  And it wouldn’t be found again for over two thousand years.

  PART ONE THE TABLET

  Egypt, thou knew’st too well,

  My heart was to thy rudder tied by the strings.

  —WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,

  Antony and Cleopatra

  ONE

  Giza, Egypt

  Present Day

  On the evening of her thirteenth birthday, Charlie Thorne committed a crime.

  As crimes went, it was a minor one, merely illegal entry. Charlie had no intention to steal anything or hurt anyone—although she knew from experience that even the most carefully thought-out plans often went wrong.

  Which was exactly what happened that night.

  The location was the penthouse condominium of Ahmet Shah, the oldest son of an extremely wealthy Egyptian shipping magnate. Charlie had been plotting the crime for two weeks, surveying the building, doing research, learning everything she could about Ahmet and his home.

  Charlie was exceptionally smart. She had an extremely high IQ and a gift for languages; since arriving in the country, she had taught herself Egyptian Arabic. She could have hacked Ahmet’s computer to get the information she wanted—although that hadn’t been necessary. Ahmet loved the spotlight and was extremely active on social media, and so he had unwittingly posted everything Charlie needed to know online.

  Ahmet was a vice president at his father’s company, but he didn’t appear to work very much—if at all. Instead, his main profession seemed to be spending money. He had vacation homes in Aspen and Malibu and an eight-bedroom yacht that was currently anchored off Ibiza. He belonged to seventeen different country clubs around the world, three of which he had never even visited. He had just returned to Giza after spending two weeks in a $10,000-a-night hotel room in Bali.

  And now he was throwing a massive party to celebrate being home again.

  Charlie had briefly considered breaking into Ahmet’s condo while he was in Bali, but the security system was elaborate and state-of-the-art, and the building was patrolled by armed guards. Charlie had many talents, but breaking and entering wasn’t one of them. Besides, there were far easier ways to get into someone’s home, no matter how well protected it was.

  Under the right circumstances, you could just walk through the door.

  Ahmet Shah loved entertaining. It hadn’t taken Charlie long to learn that about him; her first Google image search for the young man turned up hundreds of party photos taken at his penthouse. Large, crowded, glamorous parties, the kind that certain types of people were desperate to score invitations to.

  The condo had also been featured in several architectural and design magazines, which allowed Charlie to easily memorize the layout of the rooms and catalog most of the artifacts on display.

  Including one artifact in particular. The one Charlie had been trying to locate for the past two months. In a magazine photo, it was in the background behind Ahmet as he showed off another piece of art that wasn’t anywhere nearly as important.

  An artifact so powerful and significant should never have been in a private collection. Ahmet Shah would have been wise to keep its location a secret. But then, Ahmet did not appear to be a very wise person. From Charlie’s research, he was a wealthy brat who wanted to be famous—and he didn’t even know what he possessed.

  Charlie took it as a good sign that the party happened to be on her birthday. She felt like celebrating, but unfortunately, she was no longer in touch with any of her friends. Four months earlier, circumstances beyond her control had forced her to cut ties with all of them and vanish from their lives. None of them had heard from her since then. None had the slightest idea what had happened to her.

  And as for celebrating with family, well… Charlie had some very unusual family issues. Her half brother Dante was a CIA agent who had blackmailed her into working for the US government. He was the reason she was now on the run, pursued by intelligence agencies and criminals around the globe.

  Although, Charlie had to admit, thanks to Dante, her life had become quite exciting. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t have even known about the artifact in Ahmet Shah’s penthouse.

  To access the party, all Charlie had to do was pretend to be a member of the catering staff, which was easy. The party was going to be a big one, with more than sixty servers. And caterers all over the world wore virtually the same uniform: white shirt and black pants. The clothes were cheap and readily available—not that Charlie had to worry about money.

  Charlie was tall for her age and behaved with a maturity that made her come across as someone who was several years older. In addition, she was extremely multiracial—partially Latina, Black, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Caucasian—and multilingual; with her caterer’s uniform and her newfound mastery of Egyptian Arabic, she easily blended in with the other hired help.

  The building where the party was taking place was imposing and opulent in the front but basic and industrial in the back. There was a rear entrance for nights like this, so that the catering supplies and staff wouldn’t have to come through the main lobby and tie up the elevators. As Charlie had expected, the scene at the rear entrance in the hour before the party was chaotic; the catering staff was scrambling to unload truckloads of food, glassware, serving dishes, utensils, and linens and get them up to the penthouse. Charlie simply grabbed a tray of canapés and fell in line. The single security guard stationed there was distracted, trying to get the phone number of an attractive young caterer; Charlie walked right past him and into the service elevator without any trouble at all.

  The penthouse was even more spectacular than she had expected. The magazine photos hadn’t done it justice. It was extremely modern in design, which served as a stark juxtaposition to the ancient treasures in Ahmet Shah’s art collection: papyrus scrolls and sandstone sculptures that were thousands of years old. But for most visitors, the most amazing feature was the view of the pyramids.

  The western walls of the penthouse
were floor-to-ceiling glass, fronting an outdoor deck with an infinity pool. All of it faced the famous Giza pyramid complex. Although the ancient tombs were still surrounded by the sands of the northern Sahara, the modern city came surprisingly close to them, creating a jarring clash of the old and the new. The edge of the pyramid complex was lined with other luxury condominium towers, high-end housing developments, ghettos, shopping centers, school campuses, and even a golf course, whose irrigated green fairways looked bizarrely out of place beside the desert sands. At night, the great pyramids were lit with floodlights, so they practically gleamed against the dark sky.

  However, as impressive as the view of the pyramids was, Charlie was far more interested in something inside the penthouse.

  And yet she couldn’t go see it right away. There were security cameras in every room and plenty of guards patrolling the condo. So Charlie bided her time, waiting for the right moment. For a few hours, she worked dutifully as a caterer, first by helping set up for the party, arranging banquet tables and prepping food, and then, once the guests began to arrive, by carrying around trays of hors d’oeuvres and collecting empty glasses. When the party finally reached its peak, and the rooms were jammed with guests, Charlie decided it was time to make her move.

  She ducked into a bathroom and took off her catering clothes, revealing the party dress she’d been wearing underneath them all along. Ahmet Shah’s guests were rich, and so, to blend in, Charlie had splurged on a designer outfit. It was sleek and stylish—although not so stylish that it would grab attention. Attention was the last thing Charlie wanted. She quickly put up her hair, did her makeup, and crammed the caterer’s uniform into a cabinet under the sink. Then she stepped out and joined the party.

  Charlie had little concern about the other caterers recognizing her; the lights were dim and the condo was packed. She even managed to pluck a few sliders and a soda off the trays of passing servers without being noticed. She worked her way through the crowds, ignoring two separate attempts by young male guests—unaware of her age—to flirt with her, and finally reached what she had gone through so much trouble to find.