Cleopatra shook her head. "I would have used one by now if there were," she snapped.

Julius swore under his breath, turning away to peer through the cracks of daylight at the warriors beyond. The palace felt claustrophobic and he hated to play such a passive role. Apart from the men on the roof, he had no way of attacking his enemies unless he sent the legions out in a direct assault that could very well have been suicide.

"Do they have heavy weapons, catapults and the like?" he shouted over the noise. The palace could be reduced to rubble by such things and he had a sudden terror of them.

"Not close," Cleopatra replied. She ran her tongue over her lips, tasting the dust in the air and frowning. "Follow me to the roof and I'll show you."

Julius hesitated, unwilling to leave his men. Brutus stepped forward a fraction before Domitius and Octavian.

"Go, sir," he said. "We'll hold them here for a while."

Julius nodded in relief and raced after the queen, taking flights of stairs to the highest floors without slowing down. He was panting by the time he reached the top and climbed a ladder into the sunlight.

Summer had come to Alexandria and he felt the heat like a blow. The tiles stretched away in all directions, though his gaze was immediately drawn to the line of efficient killers he had sent to the edge of the roof. Ciro was with them and as Julius watched he took careful aim and sent a spear down at a difficult angle. The big man smiled at the result and the others clapped him on his shoulders. Then a rush of arrows sent them all leaping backwards. They saluted as they recognized Julius and he waved them back to their task.

Julius took a sharp breath at the view of the city and sea the height gave him. The port was laid out in miniature below and the horizon was split between the deep ocean and the brown blur of the Egyptian heartlands.

Cleopatra stood beside him, her hair whipped into curls by the wind.

"There are barracks at Canopus, two days to the east, along the coast," she said, pointing into the dim distance. "They have catapults there and ships to carry them."

Julius studied the mouth of the port. He could see the tiny galleys of the port watch on patrol. Merchants sailed or rowed across the harbor and dozens more sat at anchor, protected from storms. Alexander had chosen well when he built his city.

"I must get men out tonight," Julius said. "I can block the entrances to the port with ships sunk in the entrance. Where will the army go then, to reach us?"

Cleopatra shrugged. "The coast is rocky and dangerous anywhere else. You will delay them for days, wherever they try to land."

"Can they still pass with the heavy weapons, though?" Julius asked.

"Eventually. We are an ingenious people, Julius."

He studied the coast, his gaze darting from place to place as he thought.

"I could lower men from ropes tethered up here," he said at last.

He strode to the far edge and looked down, swallowing painfully as he saw how far his men would have to descend. An arrow hummed past him, its force almost spent. He ignored it.

Cleopatra had come with him and stood looking down the sheer walls at her brother's army.

"Just one man could carry a message to my own forces," she said. "My slave, Ahmose, can take the news. They will tip the balance and give you the chance to break free of the siege."

"It's not enough," Julius replied. "Send him if you wish, but I cannot stay here without knowing whether he reached them or was killed. We don't have food for more than a few days."

Julius walked along the edge, looking down at the minor buildings surrounding the palace. He reached the rear and had to edge around a sloping section, thankful the old tiles were dry and steady underfoot. Behind the palace, there were smaller structures used by slaves and servants. As Julius saw them he smiled.

"Can you see this?" he said.

Cleopatra peered over the edge with him.

Below, a sloping line of tiles seemed to come close to the main wall. Julius knelt, then lay on his stomach. The other roof looked near enough to jump to, or climb down to on ropes. From there, he could see a mismatched trail of homes and temples leading across the city.

"That's the place," he said. "If I can get men down to that first roof, they can cross above the heads of Ptolemy's soldiers. They'll never know we are there. Can you see a window at the same level?"

Cleopatra lay flat to crane her head over the rim. She nodded and both of them became aware of their closeness at the same time. Julius knew his men would be watching, but he was still captivated by her. He shook himself.

"I must go down and find the room that looks out onto those roofs."

"Isis has favored you, Julius, in showing you the way," Cleopatra said.

He frowned. "My own eyes had something to do with it."

She laughed at that, coming quickly to her feet with all the easy grace of youth. Beside her, he felt old, but then she kissed him, her tongue grazing his with the taste of marble dust.

Ciro and Domitius eased their heads a fraction out of the rear window, looking down before jerking back. The Egyptian archers were good and they did not want to risk even a long shot.

"Twenty feet down and about six across," Domitius said. "We can make it, if they don't see us coming. After that I don't know. I couldn't see how far the roofs reach before we'd have to come down. It may not be far enough."

"There's no other way," Julius replied. They could all hear the hammering below while the army milled in the grounds. "As soon as they bring catapults, we're finished, unless our food and water run out first. We need to draw some of them away at the very least."

"Let me have this one, sir," Domitius said. "With a cohort of the youngest men to try for the ships."

Julius looked at him. "Very well. Ciro, you go with him. Pick your men ready for sunset."

Brutus had come to see what delayed his commander and he seemed nervous. "I would like to go as well," he said.

Julius frowned. "Your arm is barely healed. How would you climb down twenty feet of rope?"

Brutus looked relieved not to have had a straight refusal. "After the rope is anchored, the rest will slide down. I can do that." He raised his right arm and opened and closed his fist.

Julius shook his head. "Not this time, Brutus. The gods alone know how difficult it will be to cross those roofs. Worse, if your arm gave way and you fell, they would know we were trying to get out."

Brutus took a deep breath. "As you order, sir," he said, disappointment clear on his face.

"We could tie his wrists to the rope we'll use to slide, sir," Domitius said suddenly. "Even if his arm goes, he won't fall then."

Brutus turned in astonishment to Domitius, and Julius saw how much his old friend needed to be back in the fight.

"If you sink the ships, you could have to swim. There's a good chance you won't be coming back. Do you understand that?"

Brutus nodded, a touch of his old wildness showing. "Let me go. Please," he said.

"All right, but if your arm snaps, you stay on the first roof until it is over."

"Yes, sir," Brutus replied, his face strained with tension. He clapped his hand on Domitius's shoulder as Julius turned away, and Domitius accepted it with a nod.

Below their feet, the hammering went on.

Though the sun had set, the grounds of the palace were lit with bonfires at all points and arrows soared sporadically up to the roof and against the windows. The army had either settled in to starve them out, or were waiting for catapults to arrive. Julius watched from a high window, well hidden from the sight of their archers. He hated to be trapped and hardly dared reveal how much his hopes were pinned on the men clambering across to lower roofs at the back.