Tony and Cleop Act One Scene Four Sub-Scene Three

 Act One

Scene Four

Sub-Scene Three

The Queen desires

 

Mardian dressed in the loose pants and his chest bared, without sandals; his usual dressing at the palace had brought with him the tray of fruits. He was to bring it to the Queen for her daily treat of fruits. She preferred the fresh grapes and other Mediterranean fruits. He, himself of northern African descent, had favoured the dried fruits. He recalled his youth, when his mother would serve him it daily. It was his youth, just before puberty. When he was of age, he had followed his father to the large city to Baghdad their items, the dried dates from the harsh lands where Mardian was brought up.

They trade that for other items like barley or corn, but mostly seeds. He was young and adventurous, making his way around Baghdad. It only took a moment of carelessness, and he was kidnapped then. He found himself with other children about his age and was shipped by sea. It was a long journey, and then the ordeal began. He was sold as a slave to the others and toiled in the fields. It was a few years later that he was traded to other masters and then ended up in the ports. He was still rebellious, and he paid the price for his brazen behaviour. He found himself at the hands of the whorehouses. The masters there castrated him for fear he would seduce the ladies.

It was the most humiliating act for him. His anger made him more reliant on himself to defend himself. He killed his masters and escaped then. He had lived on the street as a killer for hire; the Dark One was his name. He found his way to Egypt and remained there for some time, Mark Antony in his ascent to the rank of head.

His given name then was Mardian.

“Mardian, my love. Thank you for bringing the fruit.” The Queen was in the van in the living area. She was dressed in a skimpy outfit and was in the company of her pets, the insufferable long-tailed monkeys. She has three of them on leash there: Tom, Dick, and Hairy.

“My pets need their fruits.” The Queen smiled. Mardian handed the tray towards her and watched the monkeys rush over to grab their shares of it.

“Greedy pets, they are.” The Queen laughed. She then looked at Mardian. “You did well with the East Side. I was told they had pulled back to their borders. Internally, the Lieutenants are in the chaos to be the boss.”

Mardian did not answer and stepped to the side. He saw Iras, who was arranging the cushions in the other van. He liked her but knew that his affection for her was limited to his libido. He could stay erect, but there were no descendants of his to share with. She was insatiable at times, despite his prolonged efforts, but he disliked her for trying to lick him there. He knew that she was taunting him for his missing appendage and took his wrath with the hard hammering at her from the rear. Iras liked the pain and discomfort more than the sex.

“Charmian!” The Queen called out. “Give me my mandragora to drink.”

Mandragora, or mandrake, is a plant that could be used as a powerful narcotic, emetic, sedative, and hallucinogen; its poisons could easily lead to death. For centuries, it was believed that the mandrake herb, known for its medicinal and psychoactive properties, is a magical plant that shrieks when it is uprooted. While the scream of the mandrake is a mere legend, scientists have now discovered that plants do indeed emit screams when they are cut or are dehydrated.

Mandrakes were believed to be a stimulant to help with fertility and conception in barren women.

“Why, madam?” Charmain asked. “You think about him too much.”

“Oh, that is treasonous to say! I do not.” The Queen snapped at the maid. “How dare you?”

“My Queen, I trust that it is not.” Charmian replied. “I spoke because of your well-being.”

“You, Mardian the eunuch!” The Queen called to the other.

“My Queen. What does your highness want?”

“I do not wish to hear you sing right now. I know you had a good voice and, as Iras will say, a hard phallus. I do not take pleasure in anything that a eunuch has.” The Queen spread her legs to taunt the eunuch. “It is lucky for you, since you have been castrated, that your fantasies don't involve anything outside of Egypt. Do you have desires?”

“Yes, my Queen. Madian replied. Due to his dark expression, the Queen may not see the redness in his cheeks.

“Truly?”

“No, my Queen. It was more of an indeed since I cannot do anything except what I lack to do. But I still have strong desires, and I think about what Venus did with Mars.”

According to myth, Venus is married to Vulcan, the god of the forge and fire. Unfortunately, Vulcan is considered the ugliest god! So, despite their marriage, Venus took the ever-passionate Mars as a lover. Venus and Mars' many trysts eventually caught up with them, as Vulcan found out!

“Vulcan was...” The Queen displayed her last finger toward Mardian. She then turned to Charmian.

“Oh Charmian, where do you think he is now? Is he standing or sitting? Or is he walking? Or is he fucking his wife? Oh, I forgot. She is dead. Nasty of me. He may be just jacking off to her memory.” The Queen laughed while imitating the action.

“Mark Antony was a stud. He was Mark Antony on top. Run with style and courage, stud, for do you know whom you are riding then?” The Queen laughed louder while she was pointing her finger at Iras. The other blushed and tried to focus on the work.

“Mark Antony was like the demi-Atlas of this earth, the champion and guardian of humankind. Perhaps he is speaking now, or murmuring, "Where's my serpent lair of Nile?" That is what he calls me. I will say slither into me.” The Queen then sighed.

“I cheer myself up with delicious thoughts of the thing that pains me most. Think about me, whose skin is dark from the sun's loving beams and wrinkled with old age. Once, I had Julius Caesar wide-breasted looking at me when he was still alive. I was magnificent enough, even for a great monarch like him. And once Pompey met me, he would stand and gaze for hours at my forehead. Or was it my breasts? There he would fix his gaze and rather die from looking at the woman who sustained his life. Julius will have his eyes gouged out then.”

“They all feared Julius, but he is gone now.”

It was then that Alexas entered the area, bearing more drinks.

“My Queen.” Alexas greeted the Queen. “The Queen of Egypt.”

“Yes, no, King. How very unlike Mark Antony if he were one.”

“I met him recently.” Alexas said. “You asked me to see him.”

“Oh, you did. How is he? I can see his greatness rub off on you. Did you get fucked?” The Queen was on her bitter side. “How is my brave Mark Antony doing?”

“The last thing he did, dear Queen, was to kiss... the last kiss of many such kisses...”

“Your arse, I think.” The Queen laughed.

“No, he kissed this pearl from India. He gives a pearl.” Alexas handed the pearl to the Queen. “His parting words stuck in my mind.”

“I must hear them from you.” The Queen looked at the pearl.

"Good friend," he said, "say that the stalwart Roman sends this treasure from an oyster to the great Queen of Egypt, at whose feet... to improve this meagre present. I will lay kingdoms to add glory to her splendid throne. Tell her that all the East will call her their Queen." So, he nodded and sombrely mounted a thin, spirited warhorse, who neighed so loudly that the reply I would have made was drowned out by the beast.” Alexas bowed to the Queen. “His words.”

“What mood was he in, sad or happy?” The Queen had sobbed up then.

“Like the midpoint of the year between extreme heat and extreme cold, he was neither sad nor happy.”

“Oh, well-balanced temperament! Take notice of that, good Charmian; that is exactly how the man should be away from you. He takes notice of nothing but you. He may not be sad because he wanted to look cheerfully at those people whose moods depend on his. He was not merry, which seems to say that he was remembering me and his joy, but he was between sorrow and merriment.”

“Oh, heavenly mixture! Whether you are sad or happy, the extreme of either emotion suits you as it suits no other man.” The Queen was gaily then. “Did you encounter my messengers? 

“Yes, my Queen, twenty different messengers. Why did you send so many?”

“Whoever is born on the day that I forget to write to Mark, his calendar that he will die a beggar that day. Bring me ink and paper, Charmian.”

“Did I, Charmian, ever love Caesar this much?”

“Oh, that brave Caesar!” Charmian played to the Queen’s tune.

“May you choke if you ever say such a thing again! Say, "the brave Mark Antony." The Queen reprimanded her.

“The valiant Caesar!” Charmian tempts her fate then.

“I swear by Isis, I will strike you in the mouth if you compare Caesar again with my man, who surpasses all other men.”

“I beg your pardon, my Queen. I am only repeating what you said.” The Queen was awed by the previous Caesar, Julius Caesar, when they were together. It was before she met Mark Antony.

“It was in the days of my youth, when I was inexperienced and my emotions were not very strong, and that's the only reason I said such things then.” The Queen sighed. She gave up her maidenhood to Caesar then. “I was young... very young... but come, away.”

“Like Fulvia, he is dead.” The Queen looked at Charmian. “Get me ink and paper. Mark Antony will have a new greeting every day, even if I must send more messengers to send them.”

“The Queen is mad.” Iras whispered to Mardian after they left the area.

“No, she is in love.” Mardian said. “Are you?”

“No, I am for the fuck only.”