I said nothing, nor did Saloninus,Columella, or the other officers who were close enough to hear; Isuppose they were waiting for me to speak first.
Finally, I had to chuckle, although itwas without humor. “At least there’ll be an incentive for the boysto sit on the bench and take their turn.” I climbed to my feet, asdid the others; there was no point in delaying telling the men, andI did not even have to get their attention. Every face was turnedin my direction, so I did not see the need to say anything morethan, “The navarch hasinformed me that this,” I pointed up at the sky, “is the weather wecan expect for the rest of the day…and probably tomorrow.” I pausedas the men took this new piece of information in, watching theirfaces as they muttered to each other trying to work out what thatmeant. Once I saw most of them had reached the inevitableconclusion, only then did I continue, “I can see that you’vefigured out what that means, that we’re going to be rationing thewater even more than we anticipated.” Now it was my turn to take abreath because I honestly had no idea how this would go. “Whichmeans that only the men rowing are going to be allowed water, aquarter cup for every watch they’re at the benches.”
I was somewhat surprised that there was notan uproar at this; we were no longer concerned about dozens of menshouting attracting the attention of pursuers, but they did not dovery much more than shake their heads, although I heard a fairnumber of curses thrown about. While this certainly made my jobeasier, I also found it worrying, and a glance over my shoulder atSaloninus told me he was as concerned as I was.
“We need to go below to let the menwho are waiting to come out on deck know,” I said, which the twosailors took as the signal they had done their part. I did askMotius, “Who’s going to tell your slaves?”
“Malorix,” Cador answered. “He’s theonly one who speaks their tongue. At least,” he allowed, “wellenough to give them the bad news.”
When we went below and entered thecompartment, I was reminded of the contrast between being out inthe fresh air and in this space, the stench so powerful that itfelt as if I had been slapped in the face. My men were all in theirhammocks, simply because it was too hot and stuffy to do anythingelse than endure it, all of them swinging back and forth to therhythm of our movement and the gentle swell. Our entrance did serveto rouse enough attention for those nearest to the door to alerttheir comrades farther up the ship as Saloninus and I walked downthe walkway. I was in the same spot I had been in the night before,roughly in the exact middle of the ship, and as I had with the menabove, I wasted no time in explaining their situation. If anything,their response was more lethargic than their comrades’, and I didnot wait for Cador and Motius to inform Malorix, walking back tothe door to exit the compartment. I was climbing up the ladder,which I congratulated myself for becoming more adept at, when therewas an eruption of noise from the compartment. Saloninus was stillat the bottom of the ladder, and he correctly interpreted my look,disappearing from view to return to the door. I knew the instant heopened it because the volume increased dramatically, and while itwas impossible to make out anything intelligible, I did not need tospeak Parisii and whatever other tongues to understand this wasserious. Perhaps the only good thing about it was that it allowedme to practice sliding down the ladder as I had seen with the crewthen headed for the compartment.
“Gnaeus!”
I turned to see Alex, standing in thedoorway of the cabin, but it was what he was holding that caught myeye, and I nodded, which he took as the signal to toss me mygladius, although it was still inthe scabbard.
Deciding to keep it sheathed, I walkedthrough the open door to see what, to my inexperienced eye, lookedvery much like a shipboard mutiny, albeit in the early stages. Evenas my eyes took in the sight, I felt the sudden loss of momentum asthe slaves, almost to a man, had dropped their oars to stand ontheir footboards, facing the middle of the ship, where Cador,Motius, and Malorix were standing together, while the other fiveguards, all of whom were armed only with cudgels, although I hadspotted one of them always carried a whip similar to ours tucked inhis baltea, were spread outon either side of their officers. And, I could see with a cursoryglance, they were badly frightened. To this moment, the slaves hadnot made a move to leap from their spots up onto the walkway, whilemy men were stuck in their hammocks, more or less spectators tothis point, but while they were not scared, I could see they wereconcerned at being stuck in the middle of what appeared close tobecoming a riot inside an enclosed space. I cannot say I thought itthrough; suddenly, I was moving, shoving Saloninus aside to strideup the walkway to where the three seamen were standing, and withone glance at Malorix and how he held his gladius, I understood this was more for show.Just as I reached them, one of the bolder slaves on the top row, upnear the bow, left his bench, but while he did not attempt to leapup on the walkway, he did drop down onto the plank used by the menof the top row, putting him closer to the nearest guard. It was notthe action as much as the expression on the man’s face thatconvinced me that matters were very close to getting out ofcontrol; it was the look of a man who has lost all hope and hasreached the point where he would rather die fighting than sufferany longer.
“Have you told the Parisii slaves whatwe’re doing?” I demanded of Cador and
