Character+vs.+Character+Story

I met him when Cleopatra sent me on an errand into town. Cleopatra had grown up with me and I was the only person besides Mark Anthony who was granted almost full access to her. She was my dearest friend, and I was her first lady, but still I was to follow her orders just like every other person in the palace. Today I was to go to the vender who sold the best silk in the city and gather a color that reminded the Queen of Jasmine. As I was leaving the palace a gust of wind caused the sand to slide underneath my thin sandals and I lost my balance. It was early morning and the town was just beginning to become filled with the people opening their small shops. Luckily he was walking past me when I lost my balance and helped me from completely falling to the ground.

It wasn't until after I over-exaggerated my 'thank you' that I was able to get a good look at him. What I saw left me almost breathless. The color of his eyes was the first thing that caught my attention. They were the color of the ocean, a deep blue, with light specks of yellow perfectly placed around his pupil. By instinct I compared them to the sun. Surround by a crystal clear sky. The lightness of his eyes contrasted against the darkness of his hair perfectly. The straight jet-black hair fell to just above his eyes and that only brought out the blue more.

His skin tone was dark, tanned by the hot Egyptian sun, but it seemed to glow. Though I think that may just be because I was so instantly attracted to him. I couldn't help but to smile as I continued to admire him. Thankfully my smile was returned and I felt my heart throb at the site of him.

"Thank you." I said again.

"My pleasure my lady." He bowed as he spoke, and instantly I realized that he recognized me. As the first lady of Cleopatra I was royalty. That meant that I was to be respected.

I nodded and turned away from him and continued on to my destination, but he followed me. I could hear his footsteps behind me, but there were people around, and he knew it would not be appropriate for him to call for my attention. So I waited until I reached my destination.

"What is your name?" I asked, after I had told the silk merchant exactly what the Queen wanted.

"Leith, my lady." He lowered his head after he talked. Instantly I knew that he too had felt a connection when we touched. As he addressed me he was trying to hide the smirk from forming on his lips.

"Leith, I do not think I'll be able to carry the silk that the Queen had ordered me to retrieve." I too had to try to refrain from allowing a flirtatious smile to form.

"I would gladly help you." He said just as the merchant arrived with the silk, he reached and took the silk from her hands and started to follow me back towards the palace.

He remained a step behind me but he kept pace with me and once we were far enough away from the townspeople I decided to talk to find out what he did for a living. In my mind I was hoping that he would be a soldier in Mark Antony's army. Being so close to Cleopatra I was limited to who and who I could not be with, and because I was turning eighteen in just a few months I knew that soon Cleopatra would insist that I find a proper husband.

"Leith what do you do for a living?" I blurted out hopefully.

"I am an apprentice for the blacksmith my lady."

"Have you ever thought of joining Mark Antony's army?"

"May I ask why you are so curious Miss Avian?"

I didn't answer him. I couldn't seem to form any complete sentence in my head. I didn't understand how I could be so attracted to someone who I knew nothing about. Sure, he had a beautiful face with a set of crystal blue eyes that fit the perfect description of what I wanted in a man, but there was nothing else. I knew nothing about his personality. He was helpful, and compassionate, those are traits that he had already shown to me, but those are not things that you build a relationship on. Especially in my position, I needed to be married. There was no question about it. Cleopatra had pressured me to find a good husband for months, and even had made a few suggestions. The men she suggested did not interest me, but there was something different about Leith. It seemed that we were meant for each other. The thought of soul mates usually made me want to roll my eyes, so these instantaneous feelings for Leith confused me.

Leith continued to follow me into the palace and to the room where I knew I would find Cleopatra. She was sitting on Mark Antony's lap. Showing affection was one of Cleopatra's greatest pleasures, and she let her love for Mark Antony be well known.As we entered Leith bowed while I told the Queen that I had collected the silk.

Cleopatra was a kind, free spirit. Even though she ruled all of Egypt her personality was much like any other young women, wild and carefree. Though she enjoyed her fun she also knew when to be serious. She was easily able to draw the line between being a Queen and a young women. At this particular moment, with only her husband, myself and Leith in the room she was acting very free spirited.

"Avian my darling who is it that you've brought to carry my silk." She eyed Leith and gave me a look and I knew what she was going to say before the words reached her mouth. "He is very handsome."

"This is Leith. I met him as I entered town. I had tripped, and he caught me before I could make a complete fool out of myself. " I blushed as I spoke and Mark Antony let out a deep chuckle.

"Well Leith, you may leave. Thank you for catching my clumsy Avian, and thank you for bringing me my silk."

"You're welcome your majesty." Leith gave me one quick smile as he left the room and I had to contain myself from running after him.

I bowed my head to acknowledge that I was leaving the room when Cleopatra spoke.

"I know he is handsome Avian, but you cannot be involved with an apprentice to a blacksmith." This was one of the few times that Cleopatra had used his tone with me, but I knew what it meant. There are rules that state that a women in my position cannot marry someone of a lower status, unless of course I stepped down from my place beside Cleopatra. I know if I did this right now he would not be happy with me. There could be many different consequences. Right now Rome has been threatening Egypt, and Cleopatra has been overwhelmed by trying to keep her country at ease. Some men have already been captured and imprisoned for treason because they are working for the Romans. If I left I am quite sure Cleopatra's anger would lead to my banishment from Egypt. She sometimes let her anger control her, several times there have been people banished and even executed for small crimes. Once, after a fight with Mark Antony, she caught a servant maid stealing some bread from the palace kitchen. This was known as only a minor crime and usually just the bread would be confiscated and possibly the maid would not be allowed back into the palace for a few weeks time. This particular time Cleopatra went into a screaming rage, and the maid had her right hand amputated along with the usual punishments. Later Cleopatra told me that she may have gone too far, but she regretted nothing.

I decided that Leith was just a handsome man and that I had no connection to him. I was determined before I even walked out of the room that if I ever saw him again I would pay him no mind.

My plan did not last long because as I made my way out of the room and towards my bedchambers I heard my name whispered from behind one of the giant statues that decorate my hall.

"Leith?" I whispered back, instantly recognizing his voice.

I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see him emerging from behind a large statue of Mark Antony. He walked up to me and I instantly felt the need to get out of this hallway. If anyone saw me with him they would certainly inform Cleopatra, and I could not have that happen.

I quickly walked to him and, taking his hand I pulled him into my chambers. Instantly after I closed the door I could feel my cheeks turning red. I had never had someone other than some servants and Cleopatra along with Mark Antony on occasion. Having Leith in my chambers was a first for me.

"You move quickly." He said with a smile while his hand never let go of mine.

"Excuse me?" I was astounded by how blunt he was.

"I'm sorry, I just feel..." He paused and took a deep breath. "I feel strangely attached to you for reasons that I can't explain."

"I don't believe in love at first site." I slid m hand out of his. "I only brought you in here because it's not good for us to be seen together"

"Then why did you not just send me away?"

For the second time today I didn't have anything to say to him, so I simply sat on my bed. He stood by the door for a moment and then finally decided to sit in the large chair I had in the corner. Thankfully he didn't talk about his instantaneous feelings for me but he did make small talk. He asked me about my life in the palace living almost as well as the Queen herself. At first I was slow to answer, my feelings for him made me nervous. There was no way that I have ever dreamed I'd be so attracted to someone so quickly, but slowly I began to reply. After what seemed like only minutes I opened up. I told him about my life in the palace and asked him what it was like to work as an apprentice for the blacksmith. He told me that his father was the blacksmith before he died shortly after he was born, after learning what his father did for a living he felt obligated to follow in his footsteps, even though he was no longer alive. Luckily Leith loved his job, even if it meant that he wasn't treated as well as he would be if he was a soldier.

After what seemed only minutes but was actually several hours Leith had to leave. After he left I found my mind wandering to thoughts of him, and this continued for several days. It seemed as if Cleopatra could read my thoughts because she barely let me out of her sights. I didn't get a chance to be alone outside of the palace for a week straight.

Finally it seemed as if she finally realized that I was respecting her wishes and she let me go into the town for my own needs. For the full week she would tell me that I could just send a servant for anything I needed. I left the palace quickly, trying to control the urge to run into town. My plan was to go to the merchant that sold herbs with the excuse that I have been having terrible headaches. It just so happened to be that the merchant set her stand up right across from the blacksmiths' home.

When I arrived to the merchant anyone could have easily seen that I was distracted, but as I looked around I could not see any sign of Leith. I turned toward the merchant and lazily told her my made up story about the headaches. I put no effort into it and obviously she didn't believe me, but she didn't question me. I turned once again to look at my surroundings before I handed her the coins to pay for the herbs. After I collected them from her I turned and found myself staring a bare-chested Leith.

"Looking for someone?" He said with a seductive smile, after he quickly bowed.

"I'd like to talk to you again." I lowered my voice to barely a whisper. "Can you get into my chambers at nightfall, without being caught."

"Of course my lady." I don't think the smile left either of our faces as we parted.

Leith made it into my room again and once again we talked for hours. He left before dawn, with a promise that he would return the next evening.

He didn't break his promise. Every night we talked until almost dawn. Luckily we were able to do this without being caught by Cleopatra. Though I'm positive she was beginning to become suspicious. As Leith and I became closer we realized that we did have a connection, and instead of being separated on two different pieces of furniture we eventually made our way to laying together on my bed. We never did anything more then talk, but it was perfect.

One night as we were talking I laid my head against his chest. We talked, but I was exhausted. We had been staying up for almost two weeks and the exhaustion was really starting to get to both of us. I was able to sleep in most mornings, but this particular morning Cleopatra had awaken me to attend a meeting about rumors of a Roman attack.

As we talked I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew it was morning. As I opened my eyes I saw Leith's piercing blue eyes staring at me admiringly.

"Good morning." As soon as the words slipped from my mouth Cleopatra entered the room.

At first she was shocked, I could tell from her expression that she had expected me to be fixing my long chestnut hair some type or elegant up-do, just like I was every morning. After a moment though her facial expression changed to complete anger. Her deep brown eyes pierced mine, and I quickly turned my head toward Leith.

"You need to go."

"Avian..." He started.

"Now!" I raised my voice more then I should have and I saw the same expression that plastered Cleopatra's face now on Leith. Still, he obediently crawled out of the bed and walked towards the door, glancing back at me only after he stepped past Cleopatra. I noticed that she was pleased with how easily I told him to go, but still she was angry because he had been in my room, obviously for the entire evening.

"Avian if you wish to leave me for him for me there will be consequences, he is an apprentice to a blacksmith. He cannot support you. If he was in my army and proved himself to my husband this would be different. I understand that you have feelings for him, and if he has the same feelings for you. He would do anything possible to be with you publicly, instead of making you hide your relationship in you bedchambers. I expect that this will not happen again." The disappointment was thick in her voice.

"Okay my lady." I kept my head down as I talked.

"You don't have to act differently with me I am not here to ruin your life, Avian, I'm here to make sure you don't ruin your social status. "

"Thank you."

She left the room without another word.

The next day I made my way to the blacksmiths shop and found Leith in the back room. Without either of us saying a word he stood up and led me outside to a quiet place where we could be alone and not be seen. We sat in silence for a few moments before I finally had the nerve to tell him what I had to say.

"You have to join the army."

"What?" He interrupted.

"Wait, let me finish. If you prove yourself to Mark Antony, Cleopatra said that you would make a great husband for me."

"Avian I can't." He took hold of my hands. " I have a good job, I can support us without joining the army."

"Leith I can't leave Cleopatra, I don't want to know what would happen if I tried. Please just do this for me. If you want to be with me, this is our only chance. I have to go back now, just think about it." I stood and ran off back towards the palace.

Two days later Mark Antony informed me that Leith had enrolled in his army, and that he would be training him himself.

Training to become a soldier for Egypt was not an easy task, most of the Egyptian soldiers were large, and very strong. Leith looked pathetically small compared to the others but surprisingly he was able to keep up with them in all of the training exercises, it was easy to tell that he was very determined.

From my balcony I had a perfect view of the training area and every morning I watched Leith train with the other soldiers and in my opinion he was doing quite well.

Every so often Cleopatra would inform the that this was not the case and that Leith was falling further and further behind everyday. This continued for weeks and it seemed that I never was able to see Leith except for when he was able to climb onto my balcony and into my chambers, and most of those nights where spent watching him sleep and waking him up early enough to get out before Cleopatra could find us.

After about two months I decided to question Mark Antony directly about the situation, making sure Cleopatra was not near to interrupt our conversation.

"Mark, may I speak with you." I asked one morning before he went out to train the soldiers.

"Well of course Avian."

"Mark, how is Leith doing in his training?"

"Hasn't Cleopatra told you? He is excelling! His small size makes him agile and he is doing very well fighting against the other soldiers."