She knew full well she was about to die.

Posted November 5, 2020 by Dana

In December 2019 I traveled to Egypt to do research for the Eye of Isis novels, a series set in Alexandria in the time of Cleopatra.

Abydos, an abandoned painting on a temple wall. Zoom in and you can see the grid the artist laid down before beginning the painting. You can see where they made mistakes, fixed them, and moved on. Looking over someone’s shoulder as he worked, four thousand years ago.

Tetisheri found a bas-relief carving in the molding that lined the walls of the room below the roof and above the wall paintings and studied it. Theseus and the Minotaur, perhaps. Or the rape of Europa, if the sculptor had been far-sighted. Or a misogynist.

“Speak!” the king said sharply. “What was so important that forced that stinking cunt out of Caesar’s bed?”

She knew full well she was about to die. Nothing she said would change that outcome, so she stiffened her spine and remained silent. — Death of an Eye, 2018