After he got to Egypt, Pompey's fate was decided by the advisors of the young king Ptolemy XIII. While Pompey waited offshore, they argued the cost of offering him refuge with Caesar already en route to Egypt; the king's eunuch Pothinus won out. According to Plutarch, Cornelia watched anxiously from the trireme as Pompey left in a small boat with a few comrades, and headed for a welcoming party on the Egyptian shore. As Pompey got off the boat, he was stabbed to death by men following the orders of Pothinus. 