Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his headturn towards me, studying me as I kept my eyes on the knot ofmen.
“Ah,” he said finally. “I see.” Iheard him take a deep breath, then he added, “That’s even worse,then, isn’t it?”
“Worse for who?” I countered. “Him? Orthe poor bastard all chopped into bits?”
“Maybe,” he commented, “that’s thekind of thing it takes to be the master of a bunch ofpirates.”
I was surprised that I had not thought aboutit in this manner, but I instantly decided Septimus was right.Demeter had not struck me as an exceptionally bloodthirsty orbrutal man, and while he had administered three beatings during thevoyage, I would liken them to the kind of thing that happens in theLegions. No, the comrades of the man being striped do not like it,but they also know this is life under the standard, and it isprobably no different with the crew of a ship, even one composed ofpirates. What I was completely unprepared for was when, suddenly,Demeter thrust his arms up into the sky and spoke loudly enough forus to hear, which I recognized as the prayer Greeks use for thedead. Then, it was over, and the men began drifting away, some ofthem giving us a cursory glance as they muttered to each other. Oneby one, they slid down the ladder, heading towards the compartment,until only Demeter was left, and he approached me, not giving Lykosanother glance, his face betraying no emotion whatsoever.
“I am ready to go with Alexandros,” heannounced. “We will return as soon as we have determined whetheryour information is correct, and,” now he did give a slight smile,“if my guess is as well.” I was about to point to Lykos, not likingthe thought of leaving him there, but he beat me to it, “If youwait a bit, you can allow the lady Bronwen to come up to get someair. She will not see anything…disturbing.”
Then, without another word he went to theladder, dropped down to the second deck, leaving us standing there.Without the crew in the way, we had an unobstructed view of thecorpse, and I supposed that the only positive was that by the timeDemeter had hauled his remnants up on the main deck, Lykos’ bloodhad drained out. Regardless, it was not a pleasant sight, and Iturned away from it, wondering how Demeter would make good on hispromise to remove the body. Just as Septimus and I got to theladder, Demeter’s head emerged, with Alex following right behind,and despite the seriousness of what they were about to do, I couldnot refrain from laughing at the sight of my clerk, dressed in aloose-fitting garment that might have been white once, his headwrapped in cloth of the same color, one loop of which was drapedaround his neck. It was, I had to admit, almost identical to what Ihad observed of many of the men working on the docks, so I couldnot say why it made me burst out in laughter as I did.
“I’m glad you think it’s funny,” Alexcomplained. “But I’m already itching. It must be crawling withlice.” Addressing Demeter, he asked in an accusing tone, “When’sthe last time you boiled these things? Or, have youever?”
Demeter was facing me and not Alex, and hewinked as he said over his shoulder, “You need to blend in,Alexandros. If you are not scratching, people will wonder why.”
And, as humorous as it may have been, Alexdid actually blend in much better than he would have otherwise, andhe demonstrated how he could pull that extra loop of cloth up overhis lower face, which Demeter had shown him. He did so while wewere walking over to the plank down to the dock, and I offered bothof them my arm, holding on to Alex a bit longer.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Iadmonished him.
I should have anticipated hisreaction, which was to laugh in my face as he said,“You are tellingme not to do anything stupid? We aretruly living in an age of wonders!”
“Go piss on your boots,” I calledafter him as he followed Demeter down onto the dock, and Septimusand I stood there watching as they disappeared into thecrowd.
“We found him,” Alex said with atriumphant grin when Bronwen and I greeted them at the plank,having caught sight of the pair making their way through the crowdon the causeway. “He’s exactly where Aviola the Younger said hemight be.” Before we could react, his smile faded as he added, “Andhe has four guards.”
“Four that we could see,” Demeterinterrupted. “I believe he probably has at least one more maninside the dwelling itself.”
This was not good news, but it was notunexpected, at least by me; I also decided that it would be betterto continue this down in the cabin, and I led the others downbelow. Once the pair had refreshed themselves with watered wine,Demeter turned to Alex, giving him what can only be described as acompliment.
“I would like very much to havesomeone like Alexandros on my crew. He truly does not missanything!”
The only sign that Alex heard was how hisfeatures darkened slightly, but he was looking down at a tablet,from which he read now.
“One unusual thing is that apparentlyAviola owns the entire building,” he began. “Most of them aredivided into two separate dwellings, but from front to back, notsplit down the middle.”
“So there will be two exits,” Isaid.
“Exactly.” He nodded. “Which is whythere are two men on each side.”
“Are they just standing there?”Septimus asked this, though I did not understand why at first untilhe explained, “Are they making it obvious that they’re standingguard?”
“No,” Alex replied, then felt itnecessary to amend, “at least, they’re trying not to look obviousabout it. The men on one side are sitting on a couple of barrels,pretending to just be passing the time.”
Demeter spoke up, “On the other side, one ofthem is sitting with his back to the wall, and he has what lookslike a harness of some sort in his hands that he is pretending tobe fixing. But,” he smiled slightly, “if he is, then he is not verygood
