Disclaimer- I own nothing. "Cleopatra's Daughter' was written by Michelle Moran.

A/n- Warning this contains spoilers. I loved the book but felt like it ended too soon so I continued the last scene in the book after Selene kisses Juba. Please review!

How Could I have been so blind?

For a moment Juba seemed to be shocked at my sudden kiss but after a moment his lips moved against mine and my whole body felt like it was on fire. How could I have been so blind? It was Juba all the time. He and I both cared so passionately about the slaves and we were both stubborn and we both longed for our homeland. Of course we were meant to be and I didn't see it. Marcellus was light and fun and dangerous but it would never have worked. We were too different. I see now that it had just been a deep infatuation. He was never meant for me but Juba was.

We both pulled away from each other breathing heavily. I met my future husband's eyes and we both smiled. This was the happiness we both desperately wanted but were too afraid to ask for. Thousands of questions ran through my mind and my brain worked to articulate just one.

"Why did you wait so long to tell me all of this?" I asked him as I tucked his soft hair behind his ear. He hesitated for a moment before answering.

"I didn't think you felt the same way," He admitted. I felt a pang of guilt. All those times I he saw me crying over another man must have hurt him deeply. "And as for the Red Eagle, well I didn't want you involved if it went bad. I couldn't stand if anything happened to you."

"I didn't realize what I felt for you then but I do now," I assured him. "And you didn't exactly make it easy to like you." I said with a cheeky smile. He laughed warmly then kissed my forehead.

"I suppose I didn't," He agreed. "but you didn't either. And besides I rather liked our verbal sparring. Not many people are brave enough to argue with me princess." I blushed.

"You are one strange fellow Prince Juba," I told him and he smiled again. He had a beautiful smile and I decided that he should do it more often. "Why did Augustan wait so long to tell me about our betrothal? You obviously knew for quite some time."

"Yes I did," He confirmed. "I asked him not to. I know how hard it is to have your whole world change and not have any control over your life. I just wanted you to not have to worry about such things. I wanted you to have a childhood and I hoped that you would come to at least like me over time."

"And you never wanted Alexander and me to know that it was you who were financing us?" I asked wishing I had known how kind he had been to us. He had turned out to be completely different from what I had previously thought.

"I didn't want you to feel obligated," Juba said looking embarrassed. "Besides if you had known would you have touched the money?" I frowned. Knowing me and knowing how I used to view Juba I probably wouldn't have. Juba stroked my cheek and I looked up into his kind eyes. "Let's not think about how we felt in the past." He told me. "Let's just focus on the future." I kissed him slowly and he kissed me back with such emotion that I felt tears sliding down my face. Juba must have felt them too because he suddenly pulled away looking concerned.

"What's wrong?" He asked fearfully.

"Nothing at all," I assured him as I wiped away my tears and smiled at him. "I just have never been this happy before. I never thought I could feel like this before."

"Oh Selene," Juba whispered in my ear causing me to shiver. "I love you. I've loved you since that day at the trial of the slaves. After how sad you were at the verdict it took everything I had not to tell you what I was doing. I hated playing like I didn't care. What you must have thought of me."

"None of that matters now," I said restating his previous statement. I held him tightly against me and breathed in his warm musty scent. "I love you Juba. I think on some level I always did."

"My princess," Juba said lovingly. "Let's get out of here and start our life."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea!" I said happily. Taking his hand in mine we walked out of the building and into our new life together.