I was pleased to see how much this flummoxedthe others, but Alex was by no means through.
“Where,” he asked suspiciously, “didyou get this idea from, Gnaeus?”
“From my head, of course.” I tried tosound surprised, but he was not fooled.
“You’re thinking of what the Prefectdid with Deukalos.”
The manner in which he said it, almost as anaccusation, did not sit well with me, and I snapped, “So? What ifthat’s where I got it from? It worked, didn’t it?”
“This is completely different,” Alexshot back. “If we had caught Aviola in his home, hisreal home, then I could see it, butyou’re going to be surrounded by people who would rather slit yourthroat than speak a word to you! You know,” he pointed at me,knowingly, I am certain, “these people hate Romans nearly as muchas they do the Macedonian Egyptians!”
He was right; it was considered anaccepted fact that the native Egyptians loathed Rome more. Isuppose much of it had to do with the fact that Egypt is now anImperial province, as opposed to the other provinces that werenominally held in the name of the Senate, but the wealth of Egypthad convinced Divus Augustus that it would prove to be too temptinga prize for an ambitious upstart with the right bloodlines to beruled by a Praetor, so that the highest ranking Roman in theprovince was only a Prefect, or the official titlePraefectus Augustalis, who was apolitical nobody, and Tiberius had not changed this practice. Noneof which mattered at this moment, but it served as a reminder that,whether I agreed or not, this was something with which I would haveto contend.
“You can’t go alone,” Alex said, thefirst sign that he had accepted the inevitable.
“I’m not,” I assured him. “Demeter isgoing to return with me to guide me to the right house.”
“That’s not enough,” Septimusprotested, but I was not about to agree.
“So far on this voyage, I’ve donenothing but sit on my ass and look at nothing but water.” Marcellusspoke for the first time, grinning as he did so, then added,“Besides, I’ve never been to Alexandria either. I’d love to seesome of it in the event we have to leave quickly.”
“There,” I looked at Septimus first,since he had been the one to raise the objection, but I made sureto look to Alex, then to Bronwen, “are you satisfied?”
“No,” Septimus replied, “but I canalso tell when you’ve made up your mind.”
With this settled, I turned my attention toAlex, trying not to think of Algaia and their child back in Ubiorumas I urged, “The sooner you and Demeter get out into the city, thesooner you’ll find him. Go to his cabin next door. He has someclothes that will fit you.”
Addressing Marcellus, I urged him to getsome rest, and he left to the spot that was essentially where Gaiushad been hiding and where he had made something of a compartment ofhis own by shifting some crates around, and which Demeter had yetto unload. I did not say anything to Gaius because I did not haveto, Septimus catching the hint and standing up, mumbling somethingabout going up on dock to get some fresh air, then, when Gaiusseemed reluctant to go, grabbing him by the arm, throwing me a winkas he left.
“Do you really think this is the bestway to catch this man, Gnaeus?”
I answered Bronwen immediately and firmly,aided by the fact that I believed what I was saying, “Absolutely,Bronwen. And,” I walked over and placed both hands on hershoulders, “I have no intention of doing anything stupid. WithMarcellus’ help, I’m going to bring Aviola here. Then?” I shrugged.“We’ll see how long it is before he’s willing to talk.” Even as Isaid this, the image of Lykos leapt into my head, but I had no wishto think these things at this moment, having something elseentirely in mind.
The crew returned in mid-afternoon. I hadassumed that Demeter would have cleaned up the remains of Lykos,waiting until darkness to discreetly dump them over the side, buthe had something else entirely in mind. It was young Gaius whotentatively knocked on the cabin door, awaking me and Bronwen froma light doze. As she hopped to her feet and pulled on her gown, Icalled to Gaius to hold a moment while I shrugged into my tunic.When I opened the door, I instantly saw how pale he was, and myimmediate thought was about Alex.
However, when I asked him, he shook his headand said only, “Uncle Septimus says you need to come see this.”
He did not wait for an answer, turningand walking to the ladder, and I hurried after him, wondering if Ishould have grabbed my gladius. When I got to the main deck, however,the first sight that greeted me were the men of thePersephone, standing in a circle,where I could just glimpse Demeter standing in the middle of it. Iapproached slowly, and when I got to the main mast, I saw Septimuswas leaning against it, but while he was not as pale as Gaius, hewas clearly disturbed. At my questioning glance, he indicated withhis head, and I looked back to the circle of men, where I got abetter look at Demeter; it was what was at his feet that explainedwhy both Septimus and Gaius were behaving so strangely. Since Icould not make out what he was saying, I sidled closer, trying tobe unobtrusive, uncertain how these hardened mariners were takingwhat Demeter was telling them. I debated whether or not to getcloser, then decided against it, taking my place next toSeptimus.
“Have you ever seen anything likethat?”
I glanced over at Septimus, seeing that hiseyes were understandably fixed on the corpse, but while I debatedsaying something that would indicate this was nothing unusual tome, instead, I answered simply, “No.”
“And they were friends,” Septimus wasspeaking as if to himself. “He did that to a man he thought of as afriend.”
Why I chose to be honest is something Istill do not understand, but
