Okay, so I've gotten a few people talking aout the dialogue in this fic, which I actually expected. I know it isn't, er, realistic at all, but I'm kind of afraid to make it any other way. I don't want there to be situations where Alec walks into a meeting called by Caesar saying, "whadup meh homiezzz, srry im late i was starbucks :P" and then Pothinus to be like, "Thou durst hath the nerve to show up hither late? Henceforth, thou shalt fear my eternal, buring wrath!"

So basicically, I'm not sure how continuousthe fanciful talking would end up being. Obviously Old English wouldn't be in the agenda, but I'm not sure how Ancient Romans/Egyptians spoke anyways. But if yall feel it would improve the story if the characters' dialogue was less modern, your wish is my humble command. :)

TMI is not mine, nor sherlockiansarcasm's. More's the pity; if we owned it Max wouldn't be dead. (Spoilers...Max dies.)

Alec leaned casually against the ballroom wall and desperately suppressed his sigh of utter boredom. The peasant that was talking to him in such a bubbly manner was beginning to really drain Alec of all his patience. He supposed she was trying her best to flirt, but she was at a slight disadvantage; not only was Alec completely disinterested in everything she had to offer from under her robes, but he was already distracted by the thought of someone else.

The banquet in honor of the "Rightful Queen Cleopatra's" return had begun, and Magnus was still at the House of life. Last night, before Alec's shift, the priest explained to Alec that he had apparently gotten along very well with Chief Lector Iskandar (after a few misunderstandings were resolved...whatever that meant) and was invited back the next morning to meet some of the teachers Magnus would be working with. Alec was happy that Magnus' tour and first meeting with the Chief had gone so well, but he really wished the priest would get back home and save Alec from death by extreme boredom.

"-so I always tell those friends off, you know? I don't even understand the prejudice some of these Egyptians have against Romans. I like Romans a lot." The girl's voice jolted Alec out of his thoughts about how miserable he was without Magnus and he was brought back to reality. She was batting her kohl-covered eyelashes at Alec and tucking a silky piece of black hair behind her ear.

Any other time, Alec could have made a lame excuse to get away instead of pretending to like taking to the gorgeous girl. However, Alec was on duty. The banquet was located in a giant ballroom filled with expensive furniture, beautiful sculptures, precious gems, and a giant amount of people buzzing around who were very likely to try and smuggle something out the door. Or, at least, that was the reason Caesar gave for lining up an outrageous amount of guards around the perimeter of the room. Alec suspected he just wanted extra protection around people who could try and kill him.

"Um, yeah, that's nice of you," Alec mumbled. Oh Zeus, please strike me with a lightning bolt, so I don't have to be in this situation. I'm begging you, Alec thought.

The girl flashed a white smile at him and nodded. "Thanks, a lot of people tell me that I'm really nice."

Apparently Zeus had better things to do.

"Well, you are nice." It wasn't the cleverest thing to say, but Alec had nothing. He kept talking, just to cover up the awkward silence that followed his statement. "Uh, what's your name?"

"I'm Silvana," she replied, subtly inching closer to him. "What's your name?"

"Alexander." Instead of looking at her, Alec focused his attention on the giant dining room table that was covered in the finest food imaginable. Caesar himself was speaking with Cleopatra and Pothinus, the latter of the two who had come in place of Ptolemy. Apparently the pint-sized leader was still throwing a hissy fit about his sister coming home. The sight reminded Alec vaguely of the talk he had with Caesar last night, but the guard dismissed the thought. He was not to take action unless Caesar specifically told him to, and it did not appear like that would happen any time soon.

Alec was about to put some thought into what to say to Silvana, when he saw the man who could save him from his situation. Magnus brushed open the red cloth that was acting as a door in the entrance of the room. The beautiful magician was shirtless, as per usual, and had a low-hanging blue skirt on. It matched the blue jewelry that was strung on his wrists and neck; Alec was aware that the amount of jewelry on a person corresponded with the amount of money they had, but he knew Magnus wore his because he liked the look of it on him, not to brag about his wealth. Something fluttered in Alec's stomach when he locked eyes with the excited-looking priest, but it went away when Alec noticed the handsome blonde Magnus was towing behind him.

Magnus approached Alec carefully, and when they were in speaking distance he asked, "Is it okay if we talk while you're on duty?"

It was most certainly not okay. In fact, if Caesar looked over right then, Alec could've been run through with a sword because of the small crowd of three he had attracted. But Alec was so bored that he would raise Hades just for some entertainment. He'd be damned if he turned Magnus down now.

"No, it's fine. Caesar isn't normally super strict about this kind of stuff," Alec said, shrugging it off.

"Should I go?" Silvana asked.

"Yes please." It was Magnus who answered, and Alec realized he was glaring daggers into Silvana's head. Poor girl, I'd shit myself if Magnus looked at me like that, Alec thought. Magnus' green eyes were narrowed in cat-like fashion, and they followed Silvana as she scampered away. "What a nice girl," Magnus growled, turning back towards Alec. "Who was she?"

"Oh, that's Silvana. She's sweet," Alec replied, giving Magnus a small, innocent smile. He had never encountered Magnus' jealousy before, and he had to admit that he liked it. However, Magnus' hate towards Silvana did nothing to quench Alec's growing hate for the blonde Hercules. He nodded at the unnamed fellow and asked, "Who's that?"

"Oh!" Magnus turned towards the blonde man, who was staring at Silvana walk away. "This is Sebastian. Sebastian, meet Alexander. Alexander, meet Sebastian."

The blonde guy turned to look at Alec, surprise gracing his features as he did so. Alec didn't bother acknowledging the man's surprise-mostly because Alec was surprised himself. Not only was Sebastian extremely handsome, but he didn't look Egyptian at all. His pale face matched his white-blonde hair; an extreme contrast to his black eyes. The makeup surrounding them made his eyes look depthless and demonic.

Alec was used to the tan-skinned magicians with pretty brown eyes and dark hair, but Sebastian-like Camille, also-was pale. It made Alec wonder how long Romans had really been coming to Egypt.

"Hello, Alexander," Sebastian said, sounding breathless. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Alec shook his outstretched hand and nodded in return. Before he could say anything, though, Alec was distracted by something else. Sebastian's hand was covered in small scars. When Alec looked close enough, he realized that small scars covered Sebastian's entire torso. If Sebastian noticed Alec noticing, he didn't let on. "I work at the House of Life, I'm one of the magician teachers there. Magnus will be one of my coworkers soon."

"O-oh, that's cool. It's great to meet you, too. But I go by Alec," Alec said.

"Alec, then," Sebastian corrected politely.

"Oh good, you get along. I was worried Sebastian would start going on and on about how terrible Romans are," Magnus said. He didn't seem fazed by Sebastian at all, but the black eyes and scars were putting Alec off. Alec knew he was being unfair-he did, after all, have his own fair share of scars that would be just as unnerving as Sebastian's-but he couldn't help it.

"I wouldn't have done that," Sebastian reassured. He smirked at Alec, and Alec shivered. "Actually, you are helping me hate Romans a lot less. If they all looked like you, Caesar's invasion would be a gift from the gods."

The flirting was not lost on Magnus, and that angry look came back on his face again. "Okay, Seb, thank you for that. You can go stuff your face with whatever is on that obnoxiously large table now."

Sebastian grinned and gave Alec a small wave. "Nice talking to you, Alec."

"Y-you too, Sebastian," Alec said. When Sebastian turned around, his entire back was lined with long, angry red scars. Alec tried to surpress his small gasp of surprise and Magnus nodded, turning back towards Alec.

"He doesn't talk about how he got them, but they're whip marks," Magnus informed. Though once he uttered those words, his expression changed from wishful curiosity to deviance in a matter of seconds. "I wish I could kiss you right now."

Alec flushed and sputtered, which resulted in Magnus' soft chuckling. "S-stop laughing at me. Where have you been all day?"

"Just wishing I could be with you," Magnus sighed. Alec scowled at the blush that rose in his cheeks and Magnus gave him a shit-eating grin. "You are so cute when you try to be a tough guy." He was referring to Alec's scowl.

"I'm not trying to be a tough guy," Alec said with a frown. "I just don't like blushing." He stuck his bottom lip out in a pout, which made Magnus grin even more.

"Well, I think it's absolutely ador-"

"Alexander!" Alec looked up to see his leader glowering at him from a few yards away.

"That my cue to go?" Magnus sighed dramatically, and looked off into the distance. "Alas, we are to be separated, my darling knight in red and bronze armor. I shall think of you, while I am away-"

"Alexander! Come here now." This time, Alec was quick to give Magnus a small wave and scamper over to Caesar. He only caught a flash of the saddened look on his priest's face, but it was still enough to leave his heart aching.

"Yes, sir?" Alec said carefully, approaching the small man the way a gladiator might approach a very hungry lion. Caesar only looked mildly annoyed, but that did not do anything to ease Alec's worries. He'd seen the miniscule man laugh while beheading the leader of a group of barbarians in Gaul. Caesar's emotions rarely matched up with his actions.

Caesar led Alec away from the small group of political leaders where they were unlikely to hear any parts of their conversation. "You remember what we spoke of, last night?"

Alec barely remembered. He'd had the night shift last night, so he was dead tired and ready to just in bed when his shift finished, but Caesar had kept him late to discuss some murderous plan with him. Alec had not appreciated it.

"Of course," Alec replied dutifully, nodding once. As usual, Caesar felt the need to repeat the plan. He tended to think that he was the smartest person to ever exist in the known world, which made him treat others like they were idiotic children.

"Pothinus is on his way to find the little brat that is running this run-down shack. You are to go after him, understand? Pothinus is working against us. He wants me overthrown, and you must remedy the situation. I do not want anyone finding out about this being done by a Roman soldier; people will already assume as such and it would be very inconvenient to solidify their claims. I know you are good Alexander, I do not want you to disappoint me now."

"I will not, sir," Alec said. Caesar dismissed him with a nod of his head, and Alec turned to stalk down the hallway after Pothinus.

Camille was not angry with Pothinus, she was disappointed. She lounged against a wall of the sizable room the banquet was taking place, only a few paces away from a brown haired, scrawny-looking Roman soldier. Camille had thought that the worse situation to be anticipated from this mission was for Cleopatra to turn down the glass of poisoned wine Camille was to offer her. Turned out Camille was very wrong.

Pothinus had not even given her the sign. The plan was for Camille to offer the drink to Cleopatra once he emerged from the hallway with Ptolemy the Puny Pharaoh. It was way past the time that Pothinus was expected to arrive with the young man, and Camille had had enough. If Pothinus was irresponsible enough to forget about his own murder conspiracies, Camille had no choice but to take action.

She started forward to the table until she reached the Queen. Cleopatra was chatting pleasantly with Caesar. Camille respected Cleopatra, though they had never spoken directly. Camille had only heard tales of her wit and charm, which could only remind her of herself. However, up close, Camille could spot the differences between them easily. Where Camille was born naturally striking, Cleopatra was not nearly as impressive. She did not have shining hair and flawless skin; she was dull and easy to overlook. Boring. But when Camille looked into her eyes, she saw the spark of cleverness that no doubt made Caesar fall for her. Camille knew herself to be plenty manipulative, but Cleopatra had a genius air about her that one could only be born with. Cleopatra's features were nothing nice to look at, but her intelligence made her so beautiful that Camille felt inferior standing next to her.

"Your Highness," Camille said, respectfully addressing Cleopatra with a small bow of the head. "It is lovely to speak with you."

"Who are you?" a gruff voice asked Camille.

Oh, Camille had completely forgotten about the angry, short man next to Cleopatra. Caesar. He was smart, but he sure did not let it show.

"My name is Priestess Camille, I think you've seen me around. I am a Lector Priestess of the royal palace, and I have attended every meeting you have called," Camille answered, with an annoyed edge to her voice. She stared Caesar in the eyes instead of bowing slightly.

"Oh, I remember you," Cleopatra said. "You were present when my return was made known to my brother. You must be very talented to be a priestess."

"Thank you. My Queen, I got this wine from the dining room table for you, so you would not have to get it yourself. Would you be so kind to accept my action of gratitude for returning home?"

Cleopatra gave Camille a smile that was not all that friendly, and Camille knew that she knew. Camille's blood ran cold as the queen shook her head and waved the drink away.

"No thank you. I am not actually that thirsty. You can have it, if you like." Cleopatra raised her eyebrows, and Caesar looked on, confused by the sudden tension. Poor idiotic Roman.

"I am not thirsty either," Camille said. "It's been a pleasure."

She tossed her hair and stalked away, refusing to look back and see Caesar's dumb, confused gaze and Cleopatra's superior smirk.

Alexander walked with the sort of grace that a large animal stalking prey would have. It was peculiar to Magnus, but he did not mind in the least. The swaying of the man's hips and the soft steps he took made him look dead sexy. But to say Magnus became slightly concerned when Alec's hand began inching for his sword as his disappeared into the mouth of the hallway would be an understatement.

Magnus liked to convince himself that Alec was perfectly harmless, but if he were to be perfectly honest, he knew that Alec was probably more dangerous than the majority of Caesar's centurions. There was a reason Alec was such a high-ranking warrior, and it was not because Alec had blushed a little and drawn particularly impressive images in the dirt. Sure he was sweet and funny, but he was a murderer.

But Magnus found him charming, so he did not go after Alec. No matter how much he wanted to find out what Caesar had ordered him to do, Magnus sat still and shoved some figs into his mouth to suppress the worry in his stomach. Magnus had not known Alec long enough to go poking around in his buisness. He tried not to worry too much. If Caesar ordered Alec to do something unacceptable, and Alec was faced with a difficult decision of obeying him or not, he would make the right choice.

There were no cries for mercy, because the man was not facing him. Before any struggle occurred, there was the quick flash of a sword, sliding into the man's torso. Then the screams, which were muffled by a calloused hand. The man was flipped around and forced down onto the nearby bed, and Alec watched as the life bled from him and his eyes dimmed.

Killing someone did not always result in the feeling of immense satisfaction, but that time it did.