Finally, he said, “That sounds likesomething Decimus Mela does, and I’ve heard rumors that he’s eitherin Antioch. Or,” he glanced up at me, “in Alexandria.”
I tried to maintain an impassive demeanor,but my mind was racing as I tried to place the name, because I wasalmost certain that this was one of them Septimus had told usAviola used.
“How do you know him?” I asked,searching for any signs of duplicity in his face, but what I sawthere was not any hint of evasion.
“Because that son of a whore used me,and he almost got me killed,” he spat out the words. “He waved afat purse in my face and told me that it was all mine if I justwent with him to a tavernaand pretend to be the master of a fleet of ships.” Whether itwas because of the change in my demeanor, or he realized how thismight sound, he added quickly, “It was not in Arelate, Centurion.No,” he shook his head disgustedly, “this was in Rhodes. And, I wasmuch younger.”
“How did it almost get you killed?” Iasked him coldly, crossing my arms as I did so, knowing that thismakes my arms even larger.
“Because the man he was trying tocheat figured it out, and set his men on me,” he said bitterly.“Meanwhile, that bastard Mela jumped out a window and got away.They broke two of my ribs, my nose,” when he mentioned it, I couldin fact see that it took something of a left turn about halfwaydown his face, “and addled my wits for a week.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t beat you todeath,” I remarked, and while I kept my tone pleasant, I thought itwould do no harm to say, “If it had been me, you wouldn’t bestanding here.”
I expected this to anger him, but instead,he laughed and admitted cheerfully, “Centurion, I do not doubt youat all. The moment I set eyes on you, I knew that you’re adangerous man. And,” he added surprisingly, “not just because ofyour size.”
“Oh?” I was intrigued, wondering whathe would say.
“You are a killer, Centurion.” He didnot say this as an accusation, or in a pejorative sense, at leastnot to my ears. “I know a killer when I see one.”
The gods know that I have always taken pridein my skills, even when that pride was unwarranted when I was a rawEquestrian doing my exercises on the Campus Martius in Mediolanum,but for some reason, I found Demeter’s words disturbing.
Perhaps he saw this in my eyes, because hesaid quickly, “That is not a judgment, Centurion, just anobservation based on my experience. And,” he added, “that is not abad thing in your profession, is it?”
“No,” I acknowledged, “it’s not.” Ireturned to the original subject. “So it sounds like you don’t havemuch love for this Decimus Mela.”
The oath he offered was in Greek, but whileI understood it, it did not make sense to me; what mattered was himsaying emphatically, “If I ever get my hands on him again, I swearto you this, Centurion.” He looked up at me with a blazingintensity, “If he is the same man that you are seeking, it will bea race to see who gets to him first.”
I returned to the cabin the share the newsand to discuss how to handle it.
“Did you believe him?” Alexasked.
“About which part?”
“Both,” he replied.
I rubbed my chin as I thought, something Iwas not aware that I did until Bronwen pointed it out to me.
Finally, I said, “No, I don’t believe thathe was just an innocent victim who got duped by Aviola. But,” Inodded, “yes, I do believe him about wanting to kill him.”
“Then how can we use that to ouradvantage?” Septimus mused, and it was silent for aspan.
“I don’t think we should tell him thatwe know with any certainty that Decimus Mela is the same man we’relooking for,” Alex spoke. “But I think dropping hints that we thinkthat’s the case will just…encourage him to get us to Alexandria asquickly as possible.”
Septimus nodded, and it made sense to me aswell. Alex and Septimus went back to their game, while Bronwen, whohad been sitting watching, continued to do so silently. Then,suddenly, she lifted her head from the board and looked over at me,her green eyes shining with excitement.
“I do not know why, but it just hitme. We,” she began laughing, “are going to Alexandria!”
It would have been easy to tease her,but as soon as she said it, I realized something; this was thefirst time I had really thought about it as well. Clapping herhands, she suddenly became so animated that she was bouncing offher seat, while Alex and Septimus looked on, amused and happy ather excitement. And, in the back of my head was the image ofthe Praetorium of Ubiorum,where Germanicus was presumably waiting for one of his Centurionsto return. Wisely, I did not mention this.
It was not until the morning of the secondday when we learned why Gaius Gallienus was missing at ourdeparture from the villa. The first indication that something wasamiss came when we heard someone bellowing down belowdecks,interrupting the conversation between me, Bronwen, Alex, andSeptimus as we stood, out of the way, on the main deck. It wasimpossible to tell what was being said, but we all turned in thedirection from which the shouting had originated, and we did nothave to wait long to see Marcellus’ head pop into view as heascended the ladder,
