“How do you know that?” I askedbleakly, still refusing to look at her.
With a surprising strength, she spun mearound so that I was facing her, and even in the light from themoon and stars, I saw the intensity in her gaze as she retortedemphatically, “Because I know you, Gnaeus Pullus!” Her expressionsoftened a bit, and she continued, “I told you that I would nevergive myself to anyone who was not a great warrior. But I did nottell you everything.”
“Oh?” I examined her warily, searchingfor some sign of duplicity in her face. “What didn’t you tellme?”
“That I would not give myself to a manwho was without honor,” she replied immediately. “My father mayhave been only a merchant,” she explained, “but one reason he is sosuccessful is because he is an honorable man. He never cheated anyof his customers, and that is what he taught me. And,” she went on,“he told me never to marry a man without honor. Which is one reasonI had no wish to marry Berdic.” For some reason, this seemed to meto be an odd thing to say, but when I asked her what she meant, shedid not hesitate to answer, “He was plotting against Cogidubnus. Hebelieved that he would be a better king than Cogidubnus, and thatif our gods had been truly just, he would have been bornfirst.”
This made sense, and it explained much, butI shoved this from my mind, saying, “I’m just worried that Septimusis right, that I’ll do something foolish.”
“If you make sure that I am there,”Bronwen smiled up at me, “I will keep you from doing that foolishthing.”
We were awakened by a shout, just audibleenough that it roused us, but even after several heartbeats, noneof us could determine what it meant. Since our cabin was directlyunder the stern upper deck, we had become accustomed to theconstant sound of footsteps as the crew moved back and forth aboveus, as well as when men descended and ascended the ladder that wasdirectly outside. What did not happen often was what occurred then,a pounding on the door that made Bronwen give a small shriek,although the rest of us did not behave much better, but I was theone who opened the door to see the oily-bearded second in command,smiling broadly. He did not speak a word of Latin, but he hadlearned very quickly that I understood Greek, when he had made acomment about Bronwen that almost got him pitched overboard. Only awhile later did I realize that the oily bastard had suspected Iunderstood Greek and had baited me, which did not help his standingin my eyes.
“We are approaching Alexandria,Centurion,” he announced. “Master Demeter suggests that you andyour party might like to come up on deck to see thelighthouse.”
Naturally, this got us moving, and wefollowed him up the ladder, making our way quickly to the upperdeck at the bow, and I was every bit as excited as the others, andnot just because of Aviola. The lighthouse of Alexandria is famedthe world over, and yet very, very few people ever get to see it,and I certainly never thought I would have the chance, unless the1st was somehow sent to Egypt.At first, all that we could see was the light itself, despite itbeing fully daylight, and I explained to Bronwen about the highlypolished brass mirror that is used to reflect the constantlyburning flame. Bit by bit, the rest of the structure becamevisible, a gleaming white, although it was still too far away tosee the three geometric shapes.
As I was explaining to Bronwen about theconstruction of the tower, she asked curiously, “How do you know somuch about something that you have never seen?”
“Do you remember when we talked aboutteaching you to read so that you could read my father andgreat-grandfather’s account?” She nodded, and I went on to explain,“And do you remember when I told you how those carpets in our villain Arelate came from the palace of Cleopatra, back when mygreat-grandfather was stuck in Alexandria with Caesar?” Naturally,she did, and seemed a bit put out that I thought she would forget,so I went on hurriedly, “Yes, well, I know about all of thisbecause of my great-grandfather’s account.” Suddenly, somethingelse occurred to me, and I elbowed Septimus, who was standing onthe other side of me, and asked him with a grin, “Should we tellher? About the other thing?”
“What other thing?” she demanded,while I waited for Septimus to catch on to what I was talkingabout.
Somewhat surprisingly, it took him a momentas I tried to stare at him in a manner that enlightened him.Finally, his eyes widened in understanding.
“Ah, yes, the other thing.” He grinnedbroadly, leaning over to look at Bronwen so she could seehim.
“What other thing?” she insisted, thenpunched me in the arm.
I made a show of wincing, then I tilted myhead slightly as I said, “You know, assaulting royalty is a seriouscrime. I could have you put in chains for that.”
As I intended, this both confused her andmade her suspicious as she addressed Septimus, demanding, “What isthis nonsense he is spouting about royalty?”
Septimus glanced at me, and I gave a slightnod of permission.
“As it happens,” he spoke casually,“you’re standing next to the great-nephew of Cleopatra VIIPhilopator. Which means,” Septimus inclined his head regally in thesame manner I had, “you are addressing the nephew of Cleopatra VIIPhilopator.”
I enjoyed watching the play of emotionsacross her face; amazement that dropped her jaw, followedimmediately by the mouth snapping shut and a narrowing of the eyesas she said suspiciously, “I do not believe you. You are having funwith me!”
“No, they’re not.”
She turned completely around to face Alex,who was on her opposite side and had been the one to speak up.
“How is this?”
Since her back was turned, I could onlygauge her state of mind by her tone, and while she still soundedsomewhat suspicious, there was at least as much doubt, which I wascertain came from who was confirming it.
Alex caught my eye, and understanding mysilent signal, he maintained a straight face as he told her, “It’snot my place to tell you how, but I
