Hostage to Fortuna

not care for the peremptorytone, it was also a sensible precaution, so I nodded as Demetershut the door, leaving Alex and me standing there. He had pulledthe collar of his tunic over his nose, and the only reason I didnot was he had already done so, meaning that I spent the timecursing myself for not thinking of this first; I do not know why,but I do not believe I am unique in preferring my own stench tothat of others. We heard what was clearly more than one set offootsteps approaching from above, signaling that Demeter’s slaveand Lykos were approaching the bow. For some reason, both Alex andI looked upward, following the footfalls as they passed overhead asif we could see the pair; there followed a relative silence, whichI assumed was when Lykos descended the ladder, because we couldhear Demeter speaking, although the barrier between us muffled hiswords too much to understand. Another reason I wanted Alex presentwas because, while I have learned to read and speak Greek, he grewup speaking it with his father Diocles, who made sure all of hischildren were fluent in both Latin and Greek, and I was stillsuspicious that Demeter might be involved, and there are nuances inany language that a native speaker is likely to notice beforesomeone for whom it is a second language.

The door opened abruptly, Demeter standingin the doorway, although he stepped aside as he said, “Centurion,Alexandros.” Once we were in the forward compartment, I was quitesurprised to see that it clearly was used as living space, althoughI cannot say why it struck me this way.

Demeter had made arrangements, because therewas already a chair placed in the middle of the compartment, thelight streaming down through the opening where the ladder waslocated framing it in the bright sunlight. Which, I almostimmediately saw, was not an accident, as Lykos was already sittingin it, blinking rapidly and squinting from the glare.

Addressing Lykos, Demeter’s voice, while notovertly hostile, was definitely cold as he informed his second incommand, “Something has happened, Lykos, and we have some questionsfor you.”

Not surprisingly, Lykos appearedextremely uneasy, and I saw his eyes go to my gladius, but he should have been worried aboutmy vitus in my lefthand.

“What has happened, Master?” he askedDemeter, although his eyes stayed on me. “And why do they need toask me questions?”

“Because,” I spoke up, “someone warnedthe man we came to find, and when we went to his home today, he wasgone.”

I was studying his face as I spoke, but itwas difficult for me to discern whether this caught him bysurprise, or he had deduced what this would be about.

“But why are you asking me about thismatter?” Lykos shrugged. “It has nothing to do with me.” He turnedto Demeter, and said in a reasonable tone, “Master Demeter, youknow I would never do anything like what this Roman issuggesting.”

“Then you will have no trouble fromthe Centurion,” Demeter replied.

“You left the ship last night,” I saidcoldly, but before I could ask my question, Lykos interjected, “Sodid the rest of the deck crew, Centurion.”

He was right, of course, and it hadcrossed my mind that it could have been one of the other half-dozenmen who worked abovedeck on the Persephone, but I was still dead set in mybelief that it had been Lykos.

Still, I had to allow, “That is true. But,as I recall,” I addressed this to Demeter, “you said that Lykos hasbeen with you the longest. Is that true?”

“It is,” Demeter agreed, and his eyessuddenly narrowed in thought. Before I could return my attention toLykos, Demeter, speaking slowly, added, “In fact, I met him when Iwas healing from my beating. And,” his voice turned cold, althoughit was nowhere near as icy as the gaze he gave Lykos, “I remembertelling him all about it.” His brow furrowed. “Where were we whenwe talked about this?” Snapping his fingers, he said triumphantly,“That’s right! It was here! Here in Alexandria!”

Demeter certainly knew Lykos better thanAlex or I did, but because of the lighting, there was no missinghow suddenly beads of sweat formed on his brow.

“That was years ago, Master!” He trieda laugh, yet it sounded hollow even to me, and one glance atDemeter showed he was not fooled either, but I suppose Lykosdecided this was his one and only chance, because he persisted,“How could I possibly remember something you told me more thanfifteen years ago?”

“Because,” Demeter replied coldly, “Iknow you, Lykos.”

I was about to ask a more pointed question,but before I could, Demeter said abruptly, “Centurion, I wish tospeak to you privately.”

I was not eager to do this, but Alex spokeup, assuring me, “I’ll be here, Gnaeus. He’s not going anywhere.”Switching to Latin, he added, “If he tries something, I know whatto do.”

Nodding my assent, I followed Demeter backinto the main compartment, but he actually walked down the walkwayto roughly the middle of the ship so that, I assumed, there was noway Lykos could overhear anything.

“He is lying, Centurion,” Demeter toldme flatly, crossing his arms as he seemed intent on lookingeverywhere but at me.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Ireplied, although I was curious. “But how do you know?”

I was prepared to hear something about howlong they had sailed together, but I was completely caught bysurprise when he sighed and replied, “Because he has been my loverfor ten years, Centurion. And,” he shrugged, “he has lied to mebefore, but never about something he knew was so important to me.”How, I wondered, am I supposed to respond to this? In fact, I didnot, and after a moment of silence, Demeter proved he was not outof surprises. “I have a favor to ask of you, Centurion.”

Now, I was prepared to hear him begfor Lykos’ life; that was notwhat Demeter had in mind, however.

Taking my silence for either assent or awillingness to hear him out, he completely shocked me by saying, “Iwill get whatever information I can out of him, but I ask that I bethe one to send him to the afterlife.”

For a span of heartbeats, I could only standthere, mouth hanging open, certain that I had misheard