the queen's physician.

SIDEBLOG. WORK IN PROGRESS. SASSINESS ABOUND.

[divineaurelia]

"Another one?" / olympos. caesar lives verse.

"It's certainly one way to keep favour with the populace."

Alexandria or Rome it didn't matter; the main topic of conversation always seemed to be the sexual exploits of her father or brother. Julius had quite the reputation with women that, while slowed down after her mother, was still revisited on occasion.

Her brother looked set to surpass him, however. As he probably would do all things, Aurelia thought. Her father was great but there was something about Caesarion; it was new, exciting.. any time at all in his presence and you just knew he was going to surpass their father, Alexander too.

Toes dipped into the bath, Aurelia's expression was unreadable as she cast gold flecked orbs to Olympos. "Are all men like them, Olympos? Do all men love you for as long as you have something they desire and discard you as soon as they have what they sought? One after another after another.."

[physicianolympcs]

Olympos was reminded of Cleopatra at her age when looking at Aurelia. She was inquisitive too. A deep thinker. The eyes were the same too, brown with golden flecks. Aurelia was saved fro the typical Ptolemaic sibling squarreling though. Cleopatra had insisted on her children being different and they were.

“Are all men like them? Oh no, no, no..” Hip leaning on the cool marble pillar, arms folded, Olympos grinned wolfishly at his young charge. “They are quite unique, your brother and father. They keep me in business, that’s for certain.” He pushed his hair out of his eyes and sighed. “Why do you ask, little one?”

[physicianolympcs]

prxestess​:

The frustration at both his following her and the press core preventing her from leaving swiftly became evident on her countenance. Moving her box out of his reach, she shot him a look as she swiftly turned around. “I don’t need your help, Olympos. I’m perfectly capable of getting out of here myself.”

Walking back the way she came, she found the servants nook near the kitchens and put her box down on the wishing seat, perching beside it and then taking out her phone. She knew her dad was due to go off duty soon and would wait until he was finished and leave with him. It was apparently the only safe way out of the fishbowl now.

Text sent, she folded her arms, gripping the device tightly still. A twitch of humor tugged the corner of her lips upwards. “I’m surprised you haven’t shoved a pen and paper under my nose by now. Since it’s your last chance.” She lifted her gaze up to him, a certain sadness in her doe eyes. “Probably doesn’t exist any more though, right? Rescinded just as quick as the rest of it was.. and I’m sure we’ll all hear the abdication bill of succession has been destroyed accidentally soon enough. Quite impressive, really.”

That sadness in her eyes prompted a revelation in Olympos. Between Julius, the west wing, her mother and even himself.. everyone was trying to maneuver her to best suit their cause when it was plainly obvious - at least now to him - that what she wanted was to be left alone. To work and be a girlfriend; not the oft shot messenger.

Before he could speak to convey such to her, it seemed every phone on the ground floor went off in unison. Concern dipped his brow but he tried to shrug it off so he could speak with her but no sooner did he open his mouth to do so, the doors to the west wing flew open and out scuttled aide after aide grasping their own phones. 

The stream diverted course when they spotted her and Olympos immediately moved to protect her. “Not right now-guys, come on.. not right n-” he was swiftly dismissed and phones with their screens on messenger were shoved at the teenager. He growled out in frustration and muscled some of them back from her. "What is this all about?!"

[prxestess]

physicianolympcs​:

“I understand. You don’t want people to assume you’ve got a job because of Caesarion now it’s all come out.” Arms folded, Olympos filled the door way with his frame. His gaze cautiously followed the teenager as she packed up. “That’s it, right? Nothing else?”

Grasping the full box tight to her chest, Demetria rounded her desk and slid by Olympos in the door way. “I just want to do my job. I’m good at it.. and I can’t do it here.” I’m not paid to organize things, I’m paid to be a buffer between the west wing and the top floor. She almost added but swallowed it down.

She also needed to get out for her own well being. The hope she’d had when Julius was removed had shriveled into nothing. It had, now with hindsight, seemed foolish to hope for anything other than what had transpired but she had hoped. 

But now she was tired. So very tired of fighting against the inevitable and she just wanted to go back to her work. She wanted weddings and happily ever afters again. Not.. this. 

[physicianolympcs]

Olympos watched her go, a heaviness settling in his gut. The impossible situation she had been placed in of late had taken it’s toll at last but he couldn’t help but feel concerned for his friend. She could easily blow it all up in her wake and maybe she would. It wasn’t as if she’d been given any reason not to.

Following after her down the steps, he watched the doormen open the staff door, quickly shielding his eyes from the blinding flashes from the press core. He had to do what he could to avoid this being front page news. The monarchy would never recover. “You can’t go that way.” He reached for the box to help her. “Come, we’ll go another way.”

[prxestess]

@physicianolympcs: “You’re leaving the royal office?”

Demetria didn’t even look up upon hearing Olympos’ voice. Her decision was quite final, despite heated protests from his wife. The office in the centre needed more attention then it had been getting of late and that was her perfect out from this world she wanted nothing to do with.

“We have other clients, people that need our services. I’m much better equipped for working with them then being here.” She tapped the bottom of her files on her desk, making sure all the papers were in line before she put them in the box for transportation. “I need to do work I believe in again.” Her gaze swept the room, catching briefly on the carpeted floor the door led out onto and the waiting, watchful guard. “This isn’t it.”

[physicianolympcs]

"I understand. You don't want people to assume you've got a job because of Caesarion now it’s all come out." Arms folded, Olympos filled the door way with his frame. His gaze cautiously followed the teenager as she packed up. "That's it, right? Nothing else?"

[physicianolympcs]

prxestess​:

@physicianolympcs: “Are you sure you feel alright?”

It’d been almost a month since Tria had nearly ( technically, for a few minutes, actually ) died. The long awaited birth of the heir had been a long, arduous affair which had nearly taken them both though the Gods ( and Olympos himself ) had seen them both through those dark hours. Now Dion was perfect and Tria was on the road to her old self. 

Though the bone tiredness had begun to ease, the indulging of her every whim had not. She had rarely had course to venture further than the room’s balcony - which she had visited quite often - both to reassure the people of Alexandria she was well and indulge in the sea air. Even more than before, her every need and desire was catered to sometimes she hadn’t even finished a request before someone went scurrying off to fulfill it. 

But she was growing restless and that afternoon, the ladies that gathered in a semi circle about her bed had fallen asleep and Tria’d taken her chance to venture a little further than normal - bringing along Dion, of course. She was quite intrigued by the group Olympos was with and stopped to watch them whispering among themselves outside her husband’s room. 

Tria looked up when she heard him, her lips stretching into a warm smile. “I’m fine.” She insisted, adjusting the sleeping heir and then nodding towards the group, in the middle seemed to her to be an envoy of Rome. “What are they up to?”

The fondness Olympos felt for the little Queen was written all over his face when she approached and even more when she insisted she was fine. He knew the after effects might be easing off slightly by now but still remained considerably proud of her and of course the little Prince who had won everyone over from Alexandria to the furthest ends of the empire.

Guiding her away from the group lest they spot her and start lobbying her instead of the Pharaoh, he gently squeezed her arm. “Nothing to concern yourself with, Demetria. Rome just wishes to see her Emperor and now his extended family.” He fixed her with that knowing look of his. “I’m not sure they’ll be successful this time with you still recovering but it’ll be necessary eventually.”

[prxestess]

physicianolympcs​:

Olympos smiled at her answer and put it back in it’s place. “I hope you can have another happy birthday this year. Maybe a little more complicated with the changes that’s befallen him but I’m sure he’ll come up with something.” He crossed his arms again and watched as she worked. He was unable to shake off the feeling that everyone was quite underestimating her.

That someone not a celebrity, a royal or a politician had approval ratings to kill for was alarming enough, in Olympos’s opinion. That that person actively despised his friend while she was in such a precarious situation was even more so. While Charmian and perhaps indeed even Cleopatra and Caesarion saw no danger… he saw much of it.

“I think,” He pressed on, trending with more caution. “we should have a get together, perhaps a dinner, to mark the significant occasion of his ascension, hm? He’d like to have all of us together I think.”

Tria had answered his first musing with a smile and continued to work but on the second, she stopped typing and looked up at him with those big brown eyes. “Do you and my mother think I was born yesterday? I might hate everything about this world with even more reason to now than ever before but I’m not a newbie to the way this works - I’ll tell you what I told her; n-e-v-e-r going to happen. It’s not for Caesarion. You’ll use him as an excuse for me to go but it’s not about him at all. It’s about being able to tell the media I was in the same room as his mother and then you’ll cross fingers and pray people’ll stop looking at her funny for all this.”

[physicianolympcs]

Olympos laughed aloud. "There's no getting by you is there, hm?" He cocked his head, taking in all she had to say. She wasn't wrong. It would certainly go a long way to alleviate the substantial wave of anger heading their way. "I think you know it upsets him that you feel so negatively towards his mother." He shifted, focusing on her. "I understand why you do. Charmian is quite devoted to her. So is Caesarion. When the assassination attempt happened, I'm afraid everyone rather focused on her and not you. I understand. I do. But this isn't just teenage angst.. this is serious. Dangerous."

[prxestess]

physicianolympcs​:

Olympos nodded and retreated, giving her the space she needed. She was a firecracker and he didn’t want to set her off. He also felt a twinge of guilt for using the Caesarion card but needs must. He went back to perch on the edge of her desk and as he sat, he noted the photoframe decorating the pine. He picked it up and smiled down at the smiling faces. “When was this taken?”

Tria took in a trembling breath and gathered herself as he left her. The situation was rapidly becoming untenable but there was little she could do. His logical choices and skewed bias had no room for blaring warnings about social unrest in the face of such changes or the fact that the majority of the people around them now more than likely viewed him as little more than a puppet doing someone else’s bidding but that of Italy.

For Tria, who could see it all; it was so frustrating. Like screaming at a train as it went off the rails. He could and should’ve been so much more; he had the ability to be the most important and consequential head of any nation but it felt squandered already. 

She knew she’d just have to learn to keep quiet and smile. She’d already lost. 

She’d finished her coffee when he asked his question. Taking another breath, she steeled herself for the game of niceties. Putting on a smile, she crossed back to her desk, looking at the frame in hand. “My birthday.” She answered simply as she took her seat and woke her computer up to get back to work. “He wasn’t smiling quite so wide when he saw his Bugatti covered in snow with the roof open, though.”

[physicianolympcs]

Olympos smiled at her answer and put it back in it's place. "I hope you can have another happy birthday this year. Maybe a little more complicated with the changes that's befallen him but I'm sure he'll come up with something." He crossed his arms again and watched as she worked. He was unable to shake off the feeling that everyone was quite underestimating her.

That someone not a celebrity, a royal or a politician had approval ratings to kill for was alarming enough, in Olympos's opinion. That that person actively despised his friend while she was in such a precarious situation was even more so. While Charmian and perhaps indeed even Cleopatra and Caesarion saw no danger... he saw much of it.

"I think," He pressed on, trending with more caution. "we should have a get together, perhaps a dinner, to mark the significant occasion of his ascension, hm? He'd like to have all of us together I think."

[prxestess]

physicianolympcs​:

Olympos hummed as she confirmed it. “I thought so.” He could understand her anger too. The events had been highly unorthodox and he was quietly dismayed the adults had allowed the teenagers to take the brunt of it. “I think you know it’d hurt him to have to ask you for them. I think you also know that’s why you have them.” He shifted, folding his long arms. “Do you want to give them to me? I’ll give them to your mother. Tell her I found them somewhere.” He got up, closed the space between them and rested a tender hand on her shoulder. “Do it because you love him and - he’d kill me for saying this of course - but I’m quite concerned that all this stress could lead to something.” He didn’t want to be blatant, but hoped she’d catch on. 

Tria stiffened as he placed his hand on her. She was ready to argue her way out of it if she needed to but the angle of his argument was one she couldn’t argue against. She resented that it was always her that had to be the adult when the others in the situation were MUCH older than her and far more petty. 

“I don’t have them here.” She answered, wrapping her hands around her mug and lifting it to her lips. The hot liquid burned her mouth but the pain distracted her from spilling out all the deep resentments she carried within her. “He gave them to me when I was leaving. They’re at home.”

[physicianolympcs]

Olympos nodded and retreated, giving her the space she needed. She was a firecracker and he didn't want to set her off. He also felt a twinge of guilt for using the Caesarion card but needs must. He went back to perch on the edge of her desk and as he sat, he noted the photoframe decorating the pine. He picked it up and smiled down at the smiling faces. "When was this taken?"

[prxestess]

physicianolympcs​:

Olympos could only smile at her with great fondness. He waved the suggestion off and took  seat on the edge of her desk. “I’ll pass, I just came to see you.” He cocked his head, watching her. “I needed to escape downstairs, your mother and half the aides are going crazy tearing the furniture up to find those oft spoken of keys.” He knew where they were because he knew what everyone had wanted - expected - and it was just a matter of the obvious. “You don’t happen to know where they are?”

Tria nodded as he turned down the offer and busied herself making her own drink - coffee, black as the hearts of many walking the halls of the Quirinal. Booze alone at lunchtime was a step in an Antonii direction, she’d decided, that she wasn’t willing to take.

Her grip on the kettle handle tightened as he mentioned the chaos going on in the floors down below and then put the question to her. She steadied herself as she poured the hot water in, not wishing to burn herself.

“Of course I know where they are.” She put the kettle back in it’s cradle and peaked over her shoulder at him. “I have them.”

[physicianolympcs]

Olympos hummed as she confirmed it. "I thought so." He could understand her anger too. The events had been highly unorthodox and he was quietly dismayed the adults had allowed the teenagers to take the brunt of it. "I think you know it'd hurt him to have to ask you for them. I think you also know that's why you have them." He shifted, folding his long arms. "Do you want to give them to me? I'll give them to your mother. Tell her I found them somewhere." He got up, closed the space between them and rested a tender hand on her shoulder. "Do it because you love him and - he’d kill me for saying this of course - but I’m quite concerned that all this stress could lead to something." He didn’t want to be blatant, but hoped she’d catch on. 

[prxestess]

@physicianolympcs: “I’m surprised you aren’t with the party.’

“No you’re not.” She answered, looking up at him with those big doe eyes. “You know me better.”

She was trying her hardest to remember the logic that had seen her not argue on with Caesarion but it was slipping away from her with every pitying glance of a staff member or sympathetic smile of a court member. 

She’d jumped at the chance to hide in the office and send invoices and man the phones. It gave her time to breathe and try to focus herself.. but it wasn’t working very well.

Rolling her chair back, Tria stood, lifting her empty mug as she did so. “Drink?”

[physicianolympcs]

Olympos could only smile at her with great fondness. He waved the suggestion off and took  seat on the edge of her desk. “I’ll pass, I just came to see you.” He cocked his head, watching her. “I needed to escape downstairs, your mother and half the aides are going crazy tearing the furniture up to find those oft spoken of keys.” He knew where they were because he knew what everyone had wanted - expected - and it was just a matter of the obvious. “You don’t happen to know where they are?”

[physicianolympcs]

If Cleopatra had lived, what do you think her dynamic with Demetria would've been like?

“In regards to Caesarion, I assume? - It’d be stormy, I imagine. Caesarion puts his mother above all others and knowing Demetria as I do, I know she is at the limit with being second to people.. it’s also not an easy dynamic for anyone to be involved closely with. 

Ask the drunk. He’ll tell you.”

[physicianolympcs]

Do you think Caesarion could be happy in his marriage to Selene? She's much more attractive and far less argumentative than Demetria.

A spluttered laugh born from shock and then hands raised in surrender. “I want absolutely nothing to do with the ramifications that question and musing will cause.”

[physicianolympcs]

How do you think Demetria coped with the separation in comparison with Caesarion?

“Well... Caesarion knew he was alive so that’s the big difference between the two right there, isn’t it? Demetria and ‘coped’ put together in a discussion about that time doesn’t fit. She didn’t cope. She did what Ptolemy women do when upset- she gained power, she micro-managed her surroundings and she bellowed at me and threw things when I dared bring up the topic to her - her aunt was much the same, it’s a family trait I hope is stamped out soon - I’m not as agile as I once was, you know.

Caesarion? Well... he’s.. Caesarion. He survived - a miracle from the Gods - and he did what he had to to return to his throne and people. He compartmentalizes, I think; his father was one for that too. It’s a very good ability for a ruler but terrible for when said ruler is involved with a Ptolemy woman... especially that one.”

[physicianolympcs]

Broken pottery. Tension crackling in the air. Whispers of the army getting ready. It didn’t take someone of a genius intelligence - of which Olympos most certainly considered himself - to guess what was going on.

And in his characteristic head on way, addressed the elephant in the room. “Sooo...” a casual lean on a pillar, gaze trained on her. “Parthia?” || @prxestess​ 

[prxestess]

[prxestess]

@physicianolympcs: “I can’t believe you let your underlings show them around. He’ll be cross.” // prepare for the lols.

“Oh, yes you can because you know me better than to assume I have the time or the patience for airheaded royalty who talk utter rubbish.” Her voice changed, taking on an incredibly high and mocking tone. “Oh, isn’t he wonderful and brilliant and brave, why you have been gifted a leader from the Gods themselves!” Her voice changed instantly back to her own as she tartly remarked. “I wanted to throw up right there on my marble floor.”

Around her room she looked, searching for a lost missive. She’d been avoiding her own temple since their arrival, instead opting to visit and bless smaller ones in the name of Isis, and thus her correspondence had piled up and got away from her. At his last remark she paused, hands finding her hips and she shook her head, amused to say the least. “You say that as if I could give a damn, dear, sweet, Olympos. You know I do not. If he’s foolish enough to invite his ex lays here than he can deal with them and certainly not expect anything from me!.”

[physicianolympcs]

“That’s not the most diplomatically friendly way to refer to foreign royalty, you know. ‘Ex lays.’“ An indulgent eye roll accompanied his words before he produced the lost scroll from behind his back. The very edge of which he gently tapped against her nose. “He loves you. We’ve been through this. Much easier if you just accept it and put us all out of our misery - but especially, me.”

[prxestess]