I did not doubt him, necessarily, but Istill asked, “How? Everything’s full. No master is going to allowhis ship to be moved out into the harbor.”
For the first time, Demeter’s eyes left theprow to give me an amused glance before returning to the front ofthe ship.
“No?” He chuckled. “And how many timeshave you been in Alexandria, Centurion?”
“You know perfectly well,” I snapped,but then remembering what I was there to do, I modified my tone.“And you obviously know more about how things work here, so whatare the chances of us having a spot along theHeptastadion?”
I was not particularly surprised whenhe answered with a shrug, “It depends on how much we are willing tospend.” Then, before I could say anything, he turned back to me togive me a direct look as he said, “And whatever that amount isdoes not come out of themoney you gave for your passage. We,” he used his head to indicatehis crew, “have no problem anchoring in the harbor.”
My first instinct was to argue, but with myfather’s admonition about the cost being measured by the need in mymind, I refrained, and instead, I asked Demeter for advice.
“Since you know what we’re here to do,do you think it matters if we’re out in the harbor or at aberth?”
“Yes,” he answered immediately,telling me he had already thought this matter through. “Beingmoored along the Heptastadion will make it easier to come and go,for one thing.” He used his free hand to indicate the long causewaythat was lined with boxes, sacks, and amphorae of cargo, while acrowd of mostly men were moving about, some loading and othersunloading or scurrying down the causeway on some errand. “It ismuch harder to keep track of someone in a crowd like this. Out inthe harbor, if someone knows what ship to watch, all they have todo is keep a lookout to see when anyone leaves the ship in theirsmall boat.”
This clinched it for me, and I asked, “Howmuch do you think it will take to bribe whoever you have to bribeto get a berth?”
“It is the harbormaster,” he answered,then delivered his verdict on the man by spitting over the side.“His name is Eunoios, and he has been in the job ever since I was ayoung man and made my first voyage here. He,” he looked at me withgrim amusement, “is a greedy bastard.” Perhaps he understood thiswas not a particularly helpful answer, because he hurriedly added,“I suspect that it will take a minimum of one of thoseaurei, Centurion.”
“Fine,” I answered immediately,pleased with myself that I had correctly guessed the likely cost.“I’ll leave it to you to make the necessaryarrangements.”
Talking about this prompted me to think ofanother subject, and I asked him if he knew of anyone where wecould change some of our hoard of gold coins into silver.
“I do,” he nodded. “I will take you tohim as soon as I have secured a berth.”
With this taken care of, I left Demeter todo his job and went to inform the others that we would be berthingon the Heptastadion, and what Demeter had said about making iteasier for us to come and go.
“Aviola doesn’t know we’re here,” Ispoke to the group now as a Centurion, “and if all goes well, hewon’t know until it’s too late. But,” I warned, hardening my voice,“we have to plan for the possibility that someone alertshim.”
“Who would do that?” Gaius asked, butit was Alex who answered nonverbally, pointing to the rear of theship, and Gaius protested, “But Demeter hates Aviola! You said youbelieved him!”
“I did,” I agreed, “but I could bewrong.”
“I don’t think you are, actually,”Alex put in, surprising me a bit. “I wasn’t talking about Demeteras much as I was talking about that oily bastard second man of his.There’s something…off about him.”
That certainly aligned with my view ofthe man, although at the time, I had put it down to the way he wasalways ogling Bronwen the way a starving man eyes a steaming loafof bread, so I was pleased to see someone else felt the same way.The sun was close to setting, and by the time Demeter had beenrowed ashore, gone to wherever the harbormaster’s office waslocated, then returned back to the Persephone, whereupon we waited for the masterof a bireme who wasunceremoniously forced to back out of their berth to allow us totake his place, it was almost dark. Thankfully for all of us,whatever the bireme masterwas shouting at us as he went slinking off into the harbor wasimpossible to make out, and once we were secured, we had decided itwould be foolish to venture out into the city. As thede facto commander of this smallcampaign to save my family, I bear the full responsibility for whatwas to come, if only because it never occurred to me to prevail onDemeter to keep the crew aboard ship overnight, assuming thatDemeter would not allow it. If there is any positive, however, itis that Alex and I were right about that oily cunnus.
Chapter Eleven
I found it next to impossible to sleepthat night, and I was not alone, so that we were all out on deck intime to see the sun rise up over the city, the Royal Theater themost visible landmark of the palace complex shining in the earlymorning light. There was not much talking among us, but in alast-moment change of plans, it was decided that Alex and Gaiuswould go out into the city separately, with Marcellus accompanyingGaius. Like any normal teenage boy, he bridled at the idea that heneeded protection, but it was a short conversation. While it wascool, for Alex, Bronwen, and me thanks to our living in a muchcolder climate, it was not the kind of weather that requiredoverclothes, but in order to hide their pugiones and to blend in better with theAlexandrians who thought this was cold weather, our threeexploratores wore thepaenula, which is shorter thanthe sagum, and is not red butbrown.
Alex had copied out the informationSeptimus had gotten from Lucius Aviola the Younger, describing thestreet in relation to the
