“No furniture, no perishable items,”Alex answered immediately. “Just chests of the type that are usedto store clothing. And,” he did pause, perhaps because he did notlike the taste in his mouth, “chests that carry money. And it washeavily guarded.”
Nobody spoke for a long period of time thatwas impossible to measure, but I broke it.
“So he was warned.” I was the one whocertainly spoke the words, but my tongue felt thick, and I supposeit was from the bile rushing up from deep within me that almostchoked me. “Some…cunnus,some mentula fucking warnedhim!”
I was roaring this last part, anddespite the moment, I am somewhat ashamed to say that a part of mewas pleased at the manner in which the others blanched at this signof my anger. And make no mistake; I was very angry. So much so, in fact, that I stalkedacross the main deck, and before anyone could stop me, even if theyhad been able, I slid down the ladder, entered our cabin, andretrieved my gladius. Justhaving it in my hand made me feel better, but I would not be trulyassuaged until there was blood on the blade. And, while Iunderstand that it is bad to admit as much, the truth was that, inthat moment, I did not truly care whose blood it was.
Somewhat unusually, Demeter had not been onthe upper deck, so I immediately went to his cabin adjacent to oursand pounded on the door. I was gratified to hear a very undignifiedsquawking sound that told me I had surprised someone, but when thedoor cracked open, I was disappointed to peer into the eye ofDemeter’s body slave.
“Where is your master?” I demanded.Then, realizing my error, I repeated the question inGreek.
“He went into the city, master.” Theslave was clearly terrified, but as angry as I was, I have neverliked taking my wrath out on the helpless.
“When will he be back?”
“Master Demeter said that he wouldreturn before dark, master,” he managed to get out.
I left him with a growled promise to beback, and by this time, the others had managed to catch up, and Iindicated our cabin with a jerk of my head, making sure to includeMarcellus.
It was cramped, certainly, but we were notthere to be comfortable, and I addressed Alex, Gaius, andMarcellus.
“Tell me everything.”
By the time they were through, there was nodoubt in my mind that Aviola had been warned, but it was actuallyBronwen who reminded me of something, which changed everything.
“But Demeter stayed aboard last night,did he not?” she pointed out. “It was only his crew who went intothe city last night.”
This, I instantly recalled, was true, and Iknew that Demeter had not gone ashore because I had been sorestless, I had gone up onto the main deck, and every time he hadbeen there, clearly as unable to sleep as me.
“It has to be that oily bastard,”Septimus put in, and I was not surprised to see Alex’s head noddingin agreement.
“One way or the other, we’re going tofind out,” I assured the others.
Demeter did return not long beforedark, and we had been sitting in our cabin, waiting. We had openedthe shutters, so it was not stuffy, but the tension was very thickand very real, the type of acrid stench I have smelled beforebattle, a palpable thing that one never forgets once they havesmelled it. It was also, I thought with rueful amusement, a signthat none of us had had a proper bath since we boarded thePersephone. Finally, we heard thesounds that indicated Demeter had returned, and we all lookedupward at what was our ceiling, the upper deck at the stern, tryingto determine by the footfalls what was taking place. The wood ofthe deck was too thick for us to be able to overhear unless someonewas at the very stern of the ship while speaking and the shutterswere open, but to my ear, it sounded routine, like Demeter issuingorders for the crew. In confirmation, we heard someone descendingthe ladder, followed by the sound of a latch being lifted to thecabin next to us.
“Wait here.”
I used my command voice, yet I wasstill relieved that nobody thought to argue with me as I walked tothe door, making sure to clip the scabbard of mygladius to my baltea before I exited. The gods can attest thatI did like Demeter in that moment, but I would have run him throughwithout blinking an eye, and I rapped sharply at his door, cuttingoff the muffled voices that I heard, presumably engaged in aconversation that I interrupted.
I was slightly surprised that, when the dooropened, it was Demeter who did so, and he immediately said,“Centurion, Tanysas told me that you were looking for me.” Hestepped aside as he made a welcoming gesture, which, in my mind,would not be the kind of thing someone with something to hide woulddo, saying, “Please, come in.”
I did so, and once the door was shut, Iwasted no time telling Demeter what had happened, and as I did so,I was carefully watching his face, but the only conclusion I coulddraw was that, if he was hiding something, he belonged on the stageat Athens or Rome.
“Centurion,” he began as soon as I wasfinished, his voice firm, “you must believe me that I had nothingto do with this!”
“I believe you,” I answered, obviouslycatching him by surprise, but before he could respond, I pressed,“but someone from your crew betrayed us.”
He was studying my face as I spoke, and whenI was through, he replied, “And you apparently have someone inmind.”
“I do,” I confirmed, then named thesecond in command, which not only surprised him, seemed to shockhim.
“Lykos?” hegasped, but recovered quickly, shaking his head emphatically. “No,I am sorry, Centurion, but it must be someone else. Lykos is thefirst man who chose to follow me when I becamea…master.”
The manner in which he paused did not foolme.
“You mean a pirate,” I interjected,and he flushed, but before he could say something that would onlycomplicate matters, I assured him, “Demeter, I don’t care if you’rea pirate. I know I should report my suspicions to the authorities,but frankly, I don’t give an amphora of my piss that
