Then it was time to leave, and Ipicked up the final two chests, one in each hand, an act of hubristhat I started regretting very quickly, although I refused to admitas much. I had ordered no talking, but it was impossible to movequietly, nor did we move as quickly as we could have, and I hadsent Septimus and Gaius ahead of us, while Demeter had sentTheodotus and another crewman with them. We would stop at everyintersection as the four of them peered cautiously around thecorner in both directions, then signaled us to resume. Ever soslowly, our party retraced our steps out of the Rhakotis, and itwas now getting dangerously close to dawn, meaning that the lasthalf-mile down the Heptastadion would be in the presence of theearly arrivals for their day of work. Thankfully, for our entireparty and for my aching arms, I could see just ahead where thebuildings of the neighborhood ended, with the open expanse of theEunostos beyond it, the masts of the hundreds of ships floating atanchor just visible. We’re going to make it; I managed to keep thiswithin my head, and it was a good thing because, when Gaius and theothers reached the corner where our street intersected with thestreet that runs parallel to the harbor, I saw him peer around thecorner. It was the manner in which he practically leapt backward,however, that evoked a murmur of alarm from the men of thePersephone, but Gaius did nothesitate, racing back as fast as he could to where I was standingnext to Demeter.
“There are men coming!” he gasped, butquickly realized he had to be more specific. “I mean, Romans.Legionaries! They’re marching in this direction on the street wehave to take to get to the ship!”
All of the thoughts about what lay inthe future if we were stopped by men of the22nd that I had stuffed awayin a cupboard of my mind came bursting out, and for perhaps aheartbeat, I was completely unable to think; even worse, when Ilooked beseechingly to Alex and Septimus, they looked as if theywere in the same condition. As we stood there, I had not noticedthat some of our party had sidled up to the corner to peer aroundit.
“I’ll take care of it.”
As surprising as it was to hear this said insuch a calm tone, it was who said it that shocked us even more, andI turned to Pulcher, who I suppose I had noticed had just rejoinedour party from taking a look.
Trying not to sound doubtful, I asked, “Areyou sure? I mean, are you sure you can?”
If he had any misgivings, he certainly did agood job of hiding them.
“I recognize the Optio,” he repliedconfidently. “We meet up in the city occasionally.” Before any ofus could respond, he turned to Flaccus and said, “Lucius, you knowthe way to get past them?” While Pulcher did not provide details,Flaccus clearly understood, because he nodded, and Pulcherinstructed, “Take this bunch that way while I go talk to Barbatusand keep him and his detail occupied.”
Flaccus, to his credit, did not hesitate,only saying with a grin, “Meet you at Sekhmet’s Domaintonight?”
Pulcher nodded, but before he turned back todistract our comrades, I thrust out my arm, instantly cursingmyself because of the flash of embarrassment that crossed the man’sface, although he did reach out with his maimed hand and clasped myarm.
“Thank you, Pulcher,” I said, andwhile he shrugged and mumbled something, I saw that he was pleased;I do not believe that it had anything to do with the money I hadgiven him.
Then he moved at a trot, while Flaccus hadus turn about to retrace our steps for a block before taking thenext cross street.
“We’re going to have to use an alley,”Flaccus called over his shoulder, “so we’ll need to be in singlefile.”
We reached the spot, and fortunately, it wasan actual alley and not just a space between buildings, so thedelay was minimal. My arms were on fire, and I truly wanted to setthe chests down, yet when Alex offered to grasp the other handle ofone of them to share the burden, I snapped at him that I was fine,even as I inwardly raged at myself for my stupid pride. Once out ofthe alley, it was simply a matter of walking the last block before,to our immediate right, was the city end of the Heptastadion.Gaius, Septimus and the two crewmen resumed their task of checkingaround the corners in both directions, and the fact that I couldnow clearly see them signaling we could resume told me just howlittle time we had left. When I crossed the street to reach theHeptastadion, I naturally glanced to my left, where I saw that,true to his word, Pulcher had managed to not only distract what Icould see was a tent section of men, two of whom were holdingtorches, but was keeping their attention on whatever he wassaying.
“He’s probably offering to buy themall drinks tonight,” Flaccus’ guess echoed my own, and we exchangeda grin as he joked, “It doesn’t matter what Legion it is, or wherewe’re at, the way to a man’s heart is offering to pay for him toget drunk.”
I continued to glance over at thesection as we began making our way down the Heptastadion, andbefore we had gone a hundred paces, the men of the22nd resumed their patrol intheir original direction, away from us. Only then did I begin torelax, although the pair of Macedonian Egyptian guards who wereposted just in front of the first bridge gave the appearance theywere thinking of challenging us, but it proved to be a moment oftemporary madness for them, because before we got within thirtypaces, they silently but pointedly moved out of the way, one ofthem even turning his back to us.
“Wise choice,” I could not resistsaying, but I said it in Latin, so they probably did notunderstand, and even if they had, my mind had quickly moved on to amore pressing matter.
As I mentioned, the two bridges of theHeptastadion are arched high enough so that the masts of even thelargest quinqueremes can movefrom the Royal Harbor to
