'Your Majesty?'
'See to it that the Roman and his companions are released from their bonds; that the items stolen from him are returned to his keeping; that he is given suitable quarters and made comfortable. Keep him close at hand, in case the king should wish to speak to him.'
Pothinus bowed low. 'It shall be as Your Majesty commands.'
The same soldiers who had stripped and immobilized the spy now surrounded me and began to untie the cords around my wrists. Meanwhile, to a new and livelier tune from his piper, King Ptolemy made his exit from the room.
Thus I made the acquaintance of the Egyptian king and his advisers, and received my first taste of life in the royal court.
CHAPTER IX
Our quarters were simple but adequate: a room made of stone with sleeping cots for all (Mopsus and Androcles sharing), a brass chamber pot in one corner, a rug on the floor, and a small lamp that hung from a hook in the ceiling. There was even a narrow window that looked down on a sandy courtyard where soldiers were camped. Above the curve of the fortress wall beyond, the sky was dark and full of stars.
To eat, we were each given a bowl of lentil soup, a millet biscuit, and a few dried dates and figs. The food disappeared almost at once.
Eventually two soldiers arrived at the door bearing my trunk. They set it in the middle of the room and departed. I opened the lid. Lying on top was Bethesda's silver-and-ebony comb. I picked it up and ran my fingertips over the prongs. Underneath was a bag full of coins, and beside the bag, almost hidden by a fold of cloth, was the alabaster vial that Cornelia had given me.
I extinguished the lamp and lay on my cot, clutching the silver-and-ebony comb. I thought of Diana and Eco back in Rome; they would be devastated when they learned what had happened to Bethesda. How could I bear to tell them? And would I ever have the chance? Rome seemed very far away. A coldness settled over me, and I thought of the alabaster vial. Perhaps it was the will of the gods that I should consume its contents, after all…
Nearby, Mopsus and Androcles chattered to one another in low voices. I was about to tell them to be quiet when Mopsus spoke up.
'Master, is this what Rome will be like?' 'What do you mean, Mopsus?' From outside I heard a sentry give the all-clear. Wind sighed in the tops of the tall palm trees outside the fortress wall. The world had become very quiet and still.
'When Caesar gets back to Rome and makes himself king, is this what Rome will be like?' said Mopsus.
'I still don't know what you mean.'
'What he means,' said Androcles, seeing that his brother's question needed clarification, 'is this: Will everyone have to cringe and fawn and bow to Caesar and call him 'Your Majesty,' even free citizens like you, Master?'
'Yes, Master,' said Mopsus, 'and will Caesar be able to say, 'I don't like that fellow, so kill him right now!' And the next thing you know, just because King Caesar said so, the man's being strangled to death, like this?' He demonstrated by clamping his hands around his brother's throat. Androcles joined in the demonstration by flailing his arms and legs against the cot and making a gagging noise.
From the cot next to them, I heard Rupa emit a chuckle of amusement, but I saw nothing to laugh at.
'I don't know, boys. When we get back-' I almost said, If we get back, but there was no point in planting doubt-'Rome will certainly be different. The Egyptians have always been ruled by a king; before the dynasty of the Ptolemies, there were the pharaohs, whose reigns go back thousands of years, back to the days of the Pyramids and the Sphinx. But we've never had a king-well, not in 450 years or so. And no Roman has ever been a king, including Caesar. We have no experience of monarchy and no rules to go by. I imagine, like this mess of a war, it will be rather like a play that the players make up as they go along. Now, stop this roughhousing and get to sleep!'
'And if we don't, will you order Rupa to strangle us, Master?'
'Don't test me, Mopsus!'
Eventually they quieted down, until again I heard the sighing breeze in the palm trees. I banished all thoughts of the alabaster vial from my mind; who would see the boys and Rupa through the perilous days ahead, if not me? I clutched the comb until, finally, sleep-blessed sleep, with its blanket of forgetfulness-began to draw near. In my head, the sighing breeze was joined by another sound, and I fell asleep hearing the tune played by Ptolemy's piper, repeated over and over again.
The next morning, we set out for Alexandria.
It appeared that the main body of the army would remain at the fortress, under the command of Achillas, while the king and a smaller, though substantial, armed company would proceed to the capital.
Soldiers loaded my trunk into the wagon. Another soldier was assigned to drive the mules while I rode in the back with Rupa and the boys, not bound as on the day before but free to move about.
The road ran westward, away from the Nile, alongside a wide canal that brought fresh water from the river to the capital and allowed small craft to navigate back and forth. I wondered how Ptolemy would be transported to the city, and assumed he would arrive by chariot, but then, beyond the ranks of marching soldiers, I caught sight of an ornately gilded barge on the canal. It was manned by boatmen who propelled it ahead of the slow current by means of long poles. Stripped to the waist, their muscular shoulders and arms gleaming with sweat, the boatmen worked with graceful efficiency, pushing their poles against the bottom of the canal one after another and then repeating the sequence.
The middle portion of the barge was shaded by a large saffron-colored canopy, beneath which I occasionally caught glimpses of the king and his retinue, including the eunuch Pothinus. Every so often, when a breeze wafted from the direction of the canal, I heard a few notes of music from the king's piper and felt a chill despite the rising heat of the day.
The hour was nearing midday when a soldier on foot approached our wagon.
'Are you Gordianus-called-Finder?' He spoke Egyptian, but so slowly and distinctly that even I could follow.
'I am.'
'Come with me.'
'Is there trouble?'
'His Majesty ordered me to fetch you.'
'And the others in my party?'
'They stay behind. You come with me.'
Rupa helped me descend from the wagon. I spoke in his ear. 'While I'm gone, take care of the boys. Don't let them get into trouble. They think they're smarter than you, but you're the strong one. Don't be afraid to show them who's boss. Do you understand?'
He looked at me uncertainly, but nodded.
I called to the boys. When they came to the back of the wagon and bent toward me, I grabbed each one by the nearest ear and pulled them close. 'You will not, repeat not, get into trouble while I'm gone. You'll do as Rupa tells you.'
'Tells us?' said Mopsus. 'But Rupa can't speak-' His words ended in a squeal as I gave his ear a twist.
'You know what I mean. When I return, if I find that you've disobeyed me, I shall twist this ear until it comes off. Do you understand?'
'Yes, Master!' cried Mopsus.
'And you, Androcles?'
His brother, thinking it judicious to keep his mouth shut, simply nodded. I released them both. With a firm grip on my arm, the soldier hurried me off.
'When will you be back?' called Mopsus, rubbing his ear.
