One day, the Roman soldiers came looking for the gold of King Solomon. They came to Cleopatra because Beersheba near Jerusalem is under the domain of Cleopatra at that time. Rho was ordered by Anthony to find a map in the library. It was there that he met Gracielle, so beautiful in her purple greek linen dress. He showed respect to Graciella because he noticed that she was in a respected class given her traditional wear. The people who wear purple are nobles. She allowed Rho to come inside the library. He smiled at her with a gesture of soft and gentle move. She noticed that the man is not Roman by nationality. "Were you born in Rome?" she asked. "No" he replied. "I came from Castille of Spain". "Are you Spanish?" Graciella asked. "Yes" Rho answered. "I was hired by General Anthony to serve the Roman Army." "Patmos Island? The place of John, a disciple of Christ?" "Yes I am also a disciple of the Fellowship." "I am a Roman solder. We persecute the Fellowship because Sulla, a senator of Rome accused them of burning the City of Rome." "Have you found what you are looking for?" Gracielle asked. "No I have'nt found it yet" said Rho. "Well, you may not find it here. This is the old library of Alexander the Great. He will not put the map of Solomon's gold here, I'm sure" said Gracielle. "Yes you're right" Rho was amazed with the reasoning of Graciella. "Don't you know that I am one of the descendants of Alexander the Great which is the reason why Queen Cleopatra put me in charge here." "So where could I find that map?" asked Rho. "Ask Queen Cleopatra for you to go to the ancient temple of Queen Sheba, the wife of Solomon. The copy of it may be written in the walls of the temple. It is a long journey to the mountains of Egypt where the source of the waters of the Nile River come from" suggested Gracielle.
His eyes went deeper into her eyes. "You are more beautiful than the Queen" said Rho. "Please don't say that. Cleopatra will not allow anybody to be more beautiful than her" said Gracielle. "But Cleopatra is also my cousin. We belong to the same family"
"You mean to say that Cleopatra is also greek?" asked Rho. "Yes Cleopatra is greek. Her grandfather was a greek general of Alexander the Great who married an Egyptian princess, the sister of Pharaoh Ptolemy". said Gracielle.
Rho asked Graciella to have lunch with him and she affirmed the invitation. "Let's eat beside the library" said Graciella. It was lunctime. The spread the mat on the sands to serve s the dining cover. "What did you bring?" asked Rho. "I have Italian bread where meat is mixed with dough" said Graciella. "What s that? asked Rho. "This is olive oil, a greek oil we put in our food". So they ate their lunch ad talk was more frequent that the food.
CHAPTER TWO
Rho confided to Anthony that the map could be found at the temple of the Queen of Sheba.
Cleopatra said "You can take Graciella with you but do not touch her. She is also a princess. She will be accompanied with the battalion of the army"
The journey started and Rho commanded a platoon of Roman Army with hundreds of Egyptian guards that carry the platform of Princess Graciella riding with a hunded horses and a camel. Graciella reclined at the platform above the camel's back.
So the caravan moved and they travelled along the east side of the Nile to the land of Queen of Sheba halfway towards Eutopia. Rho rides his horse beside the camel of Graciella. Unayash, the commander of the Egyptian guards ride his horse behind the camel. He is a little bit jealous of the closeness of Rho and the princess yet he allowed it. He has to follow the ordoer of the Queen.
"Do you have a wife Rho?" asked Graciella. "I have a wife princess but she was lost." Rho replied. " She was kidnapped by the enemy of the Roman army of the North. the barbarians of the Goth of the alp mountains of Switzerland. That is the reason why I joined the Roman army, to find her in this time of war."
"But why come to Alexandria? You can't find her here" said Graciella. "I have to prove my loyalty to Gen Anthony so that he will give me an army to attack Alps Mountain to find her if she is still alive" said Rho.
Graciella asked "If you are a widow, will you marry again?" Rho anwered "I follow my heart... time will tell."
"Is she a princess too?" Graciella asked. "No she was a farmer like me, before I became Captain of the army" Rho replied.
"What will happen if you meet a beautiful princess?" Graciella asked. "Can a princess fall in love with an ordinary may like me?" Rho answered.
Graciella said "A princess is just a woman. She controls the profession through the title but she cannot control everything including her feelings.
"As far as I know the noble people belongs to the nobility" said Rho. "You are an officer now, you now belong to the nobility" Graciella responded.
"How about you princess, are you destined to marry a prince?" Rho querried. Graciella replied "I am a princess by birth but I work as a staff of the Queen. I am not chosen to represent political marriages so I do not have that destiny. If somebody marries me that would be my personal choice, no order by the king or queen. Unless all princesses of Greece will die... I have no choice but to represent the throne for the interest of the nation."
"You are so beautiful, men of the world will come to find you". Rho said
"Only you are allowed to talk to me the order of the Queen. Others have to ask permission from the Queen" replied Graciella.
