now:
filthy gutter cat, pet of the Ptolemy, worthless stray…
“I’m no pet,” he growled. He was suddenly compelled to make Lily see, make her understand. Why he should give a damn what she thought was beyond him, but being called a pet rankled. Hadn’t Nero and his ilk said the same thing, time and again? He’d forced it to stop mattering to him. He’d thought himself immune.
And yet here he was, defending himself to this slip of a mortal. Ty thought for a moment, about how to explain it all to someone who had never lived in his world. Those who lived in the sun had, by and large, left the ancient caste systems behind. But in the darkness, the ancient world still lived and breathed. And so did their way of life.
“Look. When you’re a lowblood, you either struggle or you work for a dynasty. I’d rather serve, to be valued and rewarded for my talents, than starve and scrape.” He glanced at her. “Tell me you wouldn’t feel the same.”
Lily blew out a breath, shoved her hands into her hair. “I don’t know. I’m not a vampire. But… yeah, maybe.Maybe.” Then she muttered, “Sorry about the pet thing. Bad joke. I’m just… I’m not okay with this yet. This Arsinöe is screwing with my life, Damien and whoever he’s working for are trying to end it, and none of them even
know
me. Your queen can promise me whatever she wants, but for now, my life back in Tipton is in shambles. Still… I am sorry, for what it’s worth. You’ve been really nice. For a vampire kidnapper.”
It wasn’t complete vindication, Ty thought, but it was something. He relaxed a little. Lily, for her part, seemed to be thinking. She was quiet a moment.
Then she said softly, “So tell me about these Ptolemy. What is that, ancient Greek? It’s familiar.”
This, at least, was more comfortable ground. “Arsinöe is the youngest sister of Cleopatra. The dynasty takes their family name of Ptolemy,” Ty said. “Much of their lineage is Greek, which the average person seems to have forgotten.”
He could feel Lily staring at him again, but not in the way he might have preferred.
“Cleopatra’s sister.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re yanking my chain.”
“No.”
“This is… Look, Tynan, as a dork who doesn’t sleep enough, I admit I watch the History Channel, okay? I remember watching some show about this now. I knew I’d heard Arsinöe’s name before. They did a show on her. Cleopatra took out any threats to her power, including her youngest sister. Woman was way more of a stone bitch than I’d ever realized.”
“Trust me, it’s still a sore subject,” Ty replied, wincing a little as he remembered the last tirade Arsinöe had goneon about her celebrated, and very dead, elder sister. “And Cleopatra
did
have her assassinated. At least, she thought so. It was very bad form, to have high-value political prisoners of Rome killed. But as we all know now, Cleopatra was quite… persuasive. It’s an ugly story, and one I won’t recount, but as Arsinöe lay dying from her wounds, the gods took pity on her. Sekhmet gave her the dark gift, as the queen tells it. And in return, Arsinöe would keep the glory of Egypt’s gods and goddesses from vanishing into the dust of time.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t say they’d really gotten their money’s worth, then. Ancient Egyptian religion seems pretty dusty to me.”
“Among the Ptolemy, it’s very much alive. And that seems to be enough for the ones who made her.”
Lily’s voice sharpened. “And what about this whole highblood/lowblood thing? Branding servants? Treating people badly based on something they probably had no control over?”
Ty was torn between irritation that she’d decided to seize on that aspect of the situation and pleasure that she would be offended on his behalf.
“What about it?” he asked.
“Do these Egyptian gods and goddesses approve of
that
?”
“They must, I suppose,” Ty said with a shrug. “As far as I know, no
filthy gutter cat, pet of the Ptolemy, worthless stray…
“I’m no pet,” he growled. He was suddenly compelled to make Lily see, make her understand. Why he should give a damn what she thought was beyond him, but being called a pet rankled. Hadn’t Nero and his ilk said the same thing, time and again? He’d forced it to stop mattering to him. He’d thought himself immune.
And yet here he was, defending himself to this slip of a mortal. Ty thought for a moment, about how to explain it all to someone who had never lived in his world. Those who lived in the sun had, by and large, left the ancient caste systems behind. But in the darkness, the ancient world still lived and breathed. And so did their way of life.
“Look. When you’re a lowblood, you either struggle or you work for a dynasty. I’d rather serve, to be valued and rewarded for my talents, than starve and scrape.” He glanced at her. “Tell me you wouldn’t feel the same.”
Lily blew out a breath, shoved her hands into her hair. “I don’t know. I’m not a vampire. But… yeah, maybe.Maybe.” Then she muttered, “Sorry about the pet thing. Bad joke. I’m just… I’m not okay with this yet. This Arsinöe is screwing with my life, Damien and whoever he’s working for are trying to end it, and none of them even
know
me. Your queen can promise me whatever she wants, but for now, my life back in Tipton is in shambles. Still… I am sorry, for what it’s worth. You’ve been really nice. For a vampire kidnapper.”
It wasn’t complete vindication, Ty thought, but it was something. He relaxed a little. Lily, for her part, seemed to be thinking. She was quiet a moment.
Then she said softly, “So tell me about these Ptolemy. What is that, ancient Greek? It’s familiar.”
This, at least, was more comfortable ground. “Arsinöe is the youngest sister of Cleopatra. The dynasty takes their family name of Ptolemy,” Ty said. “Much of their lineage is Greek, which the average person seems to have forgotten.”
He could feel Lily staring at him again, but not in the way he might have preferred.
“Cleopatra’s sister.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re yanking my chain.”
“No.”
“This is… Look, Tynan, as a dork who doesn’t sleep enough, I admit I watch the History Channel, okay? I remember watching some show about this now. I knew I’d heard Arsinöe’s name before. They did a show on her. Cleopatra took out any threats to her power, including her youngest sister. Woman was way more of a stone bitch than I’d ever realized.”
“Trust me, it’s still a sore subject,” Ty replied, wincing a little as he remembered the last tirade Arsinöe had goneon about her celebrated, and very dead, elder sister. “And Cleopatra
did
have her assassinated. At least, she thought so. It was very bad form, to have high-value political prisoners of Rome killed. But as we all know now, Cleopatra was quite… persuasive. It’s an ugly story, and one I won’t recount, but as Arsinöe lay dying from her wounds, the gods took pity on her. Sekhmet gave her the dark gift, as the queen tells it. And in return, Arsinöe would keep the glory of Egypt’s gods and goddesses from vanishing into the dust of time.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t say they’d really gotten their money’s worth, then. Ancient Egyptian religion seems pretty dusty to me.”
“Among the Ptolemy, it’s very much alive. And that seems to be enough for the ones who made her.”
Lily’s voice sharpened. “And what about this whole highblood/lowblood thing? Branding servants? Treating people badly based on something they probably had no control over?”
Ty was torn between irritation that she’d decided to seize on that aspect of the situation and pleasure that she would be offended on his behalf.
“What about it?” he asked.
“Do these Egyptian gods and goddesses approve of
that
?”
“They must, I suppose,” Ty said with a shrug. “As far as I know, no
Similar Books
