While Riley tumbled through the time machine portal wondering where she'd land next, her thoughts flashed back to her WWII adventure. She prayed that her German handler would recover and explain to her commanding officer that she was still alive. But soon her thoughts turned to her next destination. She had no way of knowing where her time machine would drop her, but if it was anything like her last three escapades, she'd have little more than her wits and knowledge of world history to keep her out of trouble.
When she landed on a marble floor in a large palace, she picked herself up and walked over to the nearest window, noticing three giant pyramids standing in the distance.
Egypt, she said to herself, recognizing the site of ancient Giza. But what year?
Suddenly, a servant girl wearing a thin tunic approached her, peering at her with pinched eyebrows.
"Who are you?" she said in a strange language Riley had never heard before.
"My name's Riley," Riley said, speaking the dialect seamlessly.
"I'll have to announce you to the queen," the servant girl said. "Cleopatra doesn't like unwanted visitors in the palace."
Cleopatra? Riley thought, shaking her head. Now there's someone I thought I'd never meet.
As the girl led Riley through the labyrinthine palace, she peered up at the tall columns and gilded ceilings painted with Hellenistic frescoes, bulging her eyes.
So this is what Cleopatra's palace looked like before it sank to the bottom of the Mediterranean, she thought.
Various guards dressed in Roman military uniforms peered at her curiously, and Riley reflected back on her cursory knowledge of Roman history. The Romans had an on-and-off-again interest in the area of North Africa and the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent, but it wasn't until the time of Caesar that Egypt officially became a client state.
Ok, she thought. So this places me somewhere in the first century B.C. If Cleopatra is still the queen, then this narrows it down to the years 50 to 30 B.C.
The servant girl led Riley into a large chamber with a sunken bath and a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. A dark-haired woman wearing an embroidered silk robe and long, golden earrings lay on a padded lounge chair, surrounded by a group of attendants attending to her hands, feet, and hair. The woman looked up when she saw Riley and the servant girl entering the room, squinting at Riley's unusual attire.
"What is it, Iras?" she said, speaking Greek. "Can't you see that I'm busy?"
"I'm sorry, my queen," the servant girl said, bowing softly. "I found this interloper in the palace and thought I should ask how you would like her disposed before handing her over to the guards."
Cleopatra glanced at Riley's twentieth-century clothes, then she shook her head.
"An interloper?" she said, looking at Riley. "How did you get past my guards?"
Riley peered at Cleopatra blankly, unsure how to explain her improbable circumstances. There was no way the queen would believe she came through time from the distant future, likely to lock her up in an asylum, thinking she'd lost her mind.
"I–was just admiring the palace and guess I got lost," she said in perfect Greek, amazed at how her time machine enabled her to speak any language.
"Lost?" Cleopatra said, turning toward the servant girl. "Where did you find her?"
"In the East Wing, in one of the guest quarters," Iras said.
"I don't remember inviting you as one of my guests," Cleopatra said, narrowing her eyes.
Riley paused for a moment to appraise the beautiful queen lounging on her chair. She had a long slender nose, bright brown eyes highlighted with iridescent eye shadow, and full sensuous lips that sparkled whenever she spoke. But even more beautiful than her face was her long, shapely figure. With perfectly sculpted legs, graceful arms, and a deep cleavage peeking through the slit in her robe, Riley was mesmerized by the celebrated queen.
"I'm sorry madam–I mean, queen," she stammered, thinking her best hope was to get out of there as quickly as possible. "I'll be taking my leave with your permission."
"Not so fast," Cleopatra said, motioning for the guards to block the exits. "We don't just let strangers waltz in and out of here, unannounced. You don't look like you're from around here."
"I'm from the west," Riley said, knowing that America wouldn't even be discovered for over a thousand years.
"You're light-skinned," the queen nodded. "Are you from Gaul?"
"Britannia," Riley said, trying to remember what Britain was called during ancient times.
"Britannia?" Cleopatra said. "You're a long way from home, for someone so young. How did you manage to come this far?"
"It's a bit of a long story," Riley sighed, knowing she was fighting a losing battle to explain herself.
"I imagine it is," Cleopatra smiled, noticing the drops of sweat forming on Riley's brow. "So now the question is, what to do with you? We can't just put you on a boat and sail you thousands of miles back to your homeland."
Riley hesitated, remembering how she'd helped her previous hosts using her knowledge of world history and modern military strategy.
"I'm quite resourceful," Riley said, hoping to avoid an ignominious fate. "I'm sure I could be useful to you in a number of ways."
"Oh?" the queen said, darting her eyes over Riley's lithe, athletic figure. "What skills would a little girl like you have that I might find useful?"
Riley glanced at the queen's attendants, struggling to come up with a plausible role.
"I'm pretty good with hair," she said, remembering how much she and her sister liked to experiment with braiding and curling each other's locks when they were younger. "And I have some knowledge of world history that might come in handy."
"World history?" the queen said, squinting at Riley suspiciously. "How far back can you go for someone as young as you?"
"I might surprise you," Riley said.
"I'll tell you what," Cleopatra smiled. "If you can tell me the name of my great-great-grandfather, I might let you live."
Riley gulped as she closed her eyes, trying to reflect back on her knowledge of Greek and Egyptian history. When she looked back up, she recognized a bust of Alexander the Great sitting on a pedestal leading out to the terrace, remembering that Cleopatra was part of the Ptolemaic Dynasty.
"If I remember correctly," she said. "You're descended from the Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy the First, who was a military confidant of Alexander the Great, after whom the city of Alexandria is named."
Cleopatra tilted her head to the side, darting her eyes between her attendants, surprised that this stranger from a faraway land could know so much about her.
"That's impressive, indeed," she nodded, motioning for the guards to stand down. "I have no idea who you are or how you got here, but there's something about you that I find intriguing. I will allow you to stay on as a servant for the time being. I'm sure we can find something useful for you to do around here."
Then she motioned to the girl who had found Riley.
"Iras will show you to the servants' quarters, where you can change into something more appropriate. I will call for you in due course."
"Thank you, my queen," Riley said, sighing in relief.
"Wait," Cleopatra said, as Riley turned to leave. "What’s your name?"
"Riley."
"Well, Riley," Cleopatra smiled, peering down at Riley's full breasts propped up by her tight-fitting bra under her thin blouse. "Something tells me we'll be uncovering a few more surprises about you before too long."
While she followed Iras to the lower level of the palace, Riley suddenly became aware of the dampness in her panties. Unbeknownst to her while she was fighting to save her skin, she'd found the glamorous Egyptian queen quite alluring.
Eat your heart out, Elizabeth Taylor, she grinned to herself. You can't hold a candle to the real thing.
