Cleopatra

Cleopatra stood on the gilded balcony overlooking the sweeping vistas of Alexandria, a gentle sea breeze tossing her mahogany curls. Though her Ptolemaic ancestors came from distant Macedon, generations in the warm Egyptian climate had lent her pale skin a golden cast, like fine parchment kissed by the sun.

She wore a sheer chiffon gown the color of clotted cream, clinging to her slender curves yet flowing freely around her lithe dancer's form. Golden threads were woven into the fabric, glinting with each subtle movement, as if she were enveloped in liquid sunlight. A rope of pearls descended to her navel, their matte surfaces glowing softly against the sheer chiffon. Bangles of gold and beaten electrum clinked musically at her wrists.

On her fingers flashed band after band of gemstones - emeralds from the verdant Nile valley, sapphires from distant Ceylon, rubies from the mountain kingdoms to the east. But her greatest treasures were her eyes, fringed by coal-dark lashes: wide, watchful eyes the vibrant hue of antique bronze, eyes that had gazed upon three decades of Egyptian history and held within their depths both cunning intelligence and burning ambition.

She was Cleopatra, last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt, and the entire civilized world would soon tremble before the grandeur and glory of her name.