Cleopatra learns of impending marriage

Alexander had a very close relationship with his sister Cleopatra who was also Olympias's natural daughter. I had a previous scene in which we learn of the closeness between the two but this is one that I like a lot as it helps to show Olympias as well...so I will share this on facebook too. I heard crying, weeping, and wailing. It came from my sister Cleopatra's room. I hastened to see what was wrong, why she was crying. *"Oh, Alexander," she cried as soon as she saw me enter the room. " The worst possible thing is happening to me." She broke down into tears so that I held her close to me and said,"Tell me about it." *She wept quietly before she could speak. She took in great gulps of air as she was shuddering. "I can't bear to talk about it. I am so frightened of it."*"Come on,Cleopatra. I am here now. Let me know what it is so that I can know what to do." I reproved her gently. *"Oh!, and she suddenly let out a thin, long drawn out scream that penetrated the entire wing of the palace. "I must marry our uncle. Father has arranged my marriage to him." * "What?" I exclaimed. "What?" I was as shaken as she. We had just recently visited him when we had left the palace in haste, and he had never even seemed to notice Cleopatra at all. I could not believe my ears. "What are you saying? When did this happen? Has mother told you? I cannot believe it." *Cleopatra is a beauty and a charming young sister but I could not believe that she would be betrothed to my Mother's brother. How could father do that? *"I will talk to Mother immediately. When did you learn of this? " I inquired again, softly, holding her close to me in my arms. "How can they do this to you?" I shuddered myself at the thought of it. Cleopatra has always lived here at the Palace. For her to move so far away into my uncle's home seemed as though a piece of me was taken from me. I could not bear it either. * My uncle is a good man but he is after all an older man, much older than my sister, and while he is a charming and delightful companion to my mother at times, very supportive of her, he is still a much older man. It frightens me to think of it but when my father decides to arrange a marriage, there will be no getting out of it. Perhaps it will work out all right, but right now I am doubtful.*Cleopatra calmed down to say,"Oh, Alexander, I know there is nothing you can do but we will probably never see each other again. I will have to go with him to be his slave wife, even though a princess. I will have no will of my own but only his. It is dreadful to me to think of it.' * "Calm down, Cleopatra," I replied. 'Be happy that he is Mother's brother. He will treat you much better than most that way. Yes, once you are betrothed, even Father will have no say about you and your life. Only Alexander will."* "I will miss you so,' she sighed and buried her head against my shoulder. I let her head rest there while I contemplated how I would approach this with Mother. Perhaps Mother would think that her brother would make a good match for Cleopatra but I had grave misgivings about that. * Cleopatra had not yet told me how she had learned of this prospective marriage so I did not know whether it had been mother or father who had consulted her. She was still sobbing quietly when I left her room to go see Mother. * I knocked at the door and waited to hear if anyone was there. Almost at once the door opened as one of the attendants looked to see who was knocking."Oh, Alexander. Please come in. Your mother will be happy to see you," she implored. * Mother was resting on a divan, dressed in a sensuous azure blue robe, lightly scented with a touch of jasmine. The fragrance of the room calmed my agitation a bit,and I could see that mother was stroking one of her pet snakes in tune with some music that hummed in the background. She looked up at me, and stared at me through heavy lidded eyes. She said, "Yes, my son, what is it? Do you want something?" * I bent down and pressed my cheek next to hers and whispered, "Mother, may I speak to you alone? "* "Certainly." she responded. She rose, snapped her fingers, and said," Away now. I have important business to discuss with Alexander here now." * The servants left quickly through an exitway, and I sat next to mother, and asked her plainly, "Did you know that Father has offered Cleopatra to your brother as a bride?" * She jumped up at once. "What? Are you mad? When did you learn this?" she exclaimed loudly. She began clawing at her hair, pulling it in single strands. "Oh, Oh!How can this be? she cried out. * "Mother, stop that!I said. But she continued to pull her hair and then began to beat her chest. "Oh, what am I to do now?" she cried. "Why?" * I replied, "I do not know. Cleopatra just now told me and I tried to reassure her that it would be all right. She might do worse than to have Uncle marry her." *Oh, no, I cannot bear it. My own brother!" cried Mother suddenly turning to me and grabbing me by the shoulders and the arms. "Alexander! How can Philip be so cruel?" At that I nearly snorted. " He is Philip, mother, and you know exactly how he is. He is a barbarous, cruel man. He is thoughtless, cruel, and ruthless. he is doing it for some reason, you can believe that." "Yes, it is to hurt me even deeper than he has already done, "she answered. " I know him very well. He likes to plunge the dagger,and then twist it. he does not really care about Cleopatra's happiness, only his own twisted sense of pain to those who he dislikes." *Iknew that she was correct. Philip liked to inflict pain as much as he could on anyone he chose. To hurt my mother would give him much pleasure and to hurt her through her daughter seemed to be his decision now. Fortunately, Alexander was a good, decent man who would care for Cleopatra as nobody else would likely do. But it was not the best match that my sister could have had. *Cleopatra had a great beauty and attracted many men. I had heard rumors of her affairs from some of my friends. I often would defend her against many cutting remarks. "Why not?" I answered when someone told me that she had taken a young man as a lover. "Surely, she should have some benefits for being a Princess of the Realm, shouldn't she?" I stared him down at that as he could think of nothing to say in return. But now I was certain that her marriage to my uncle woudl give her even more social status but she would be in Epirot, not in Pella. I was devastated at the thought of losing her. Mother soon calmed down, and said, "I will talk to my brother about this marriage. I will go to Epirot soon and help prepare Cleopatra for this strange alliance." I glowered, but I said nothing. There was nothing that could be done but to acquiesce to father's decision. I began to worry about my own future even more now.