I gestured towards Kadous. ‘He says there’s discontent in the Troad. That dead man at our gate was from Caria, and he was saying the same. Now you bring this supposed news from your Cretan friends. Doesn’t that seem strange to you, all coming at once?’
‘Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, thrice is a hint from the Fates.’ Menkaure had spent enough time among Hellenes to know that. ‘Fair enough. I’ll see what I can find out.’
‘Not tonight,’ Zosime said firmly. ‘It’s already late and we need to be up early to get good seats in the theatre. Let’s go to bed.’
Kadous obediently rose and began tidying away the wine cups and jug.
Menkaure stayed sitting where he was, looking at me. ‘What will you do with whatever I might find out? Who will you tell? I don’t want my friends accused of sedition if this is some honest mistake.’
‘The only person I’ll take this to is Aristarchos. I’ll make sure he understands no one’s out to make trouble. If there really will be a reassessment at this year’s Panathenaia, then no one need worry.’ I managed a grin. ‘I’ll be asking your friends from Crete if they want to hire me to write their speeches.’
Menkaure pursed his lips. Clearly, he still had reservations. ‘Let’s see what I turn up. Then we can discuss what to do.’
‘Agreed.’ I got to my feet.
As I made sure the gate was solidly bolted, Menkaure stood stools and empty cooking pots along the base of the wall inside the courtyard. They would make plenty of noise if anyone climbed over under cover of darkness. At my nod of dismissal, Kadous went to bed, closing his own door. As Menkaure headed for the end room, Zosime took the lamp from the bench into our bedroom.
I followed to find her stripping off. She got under the blankets, purposeful rather than seductive. She didn’t snuff the lamp but looked at me, expectant, until I dragged my borrowed tunic over my head.
Seeing her study my bruises in the flickering golden light, I stood silently until she nodded as though she had come to some conclusion.
‘I could tell from your hands that you’d been in a fight. Tell me everything. I want to know exactly what’s going on.’
I considered trying to tell her that she need not concern herself with such troubles. That I would soon have everything resolved. But that would be a lie. A whole series of lies. She was involved now that our home had been defiled. Besides, I still had no idea how this particular drama would play out.
There is also one thing that I’m certain of. If I ever lie to Zosime, if I ever forfeit her trust, then I will lose her for good before the sun sets on that ill-fated day.
‘Can I get into bed first?’
‘All right.’
As I got in beside her, she licked two fingers and quenched the lamp wick. I kissed her hair as she lifted my arm and slid into my embrace.
She rested her head on my shoulder and laid a hand on my chest. ‘Tell me.’
I moved her hand to my belly, to take the weight of her arm off my bruises. Somehow the darkness made things easier. I told Zosime what had happened in the agora, what I suspected about that rabble-rouser and his fake Ionian, and how I hoped to track them down for Aristarchos. She didn’t ask many questions, only prompting me to continue when I trailed off into silence.
‘Then I got back here and saw that filth painted on our wall.’ I racked my brains for anything else that I should tell her. No, I had nothing more.
‘I see,’ Zosime said after a long moment. ‘Then we had better find some answers and put an end to this.’
She stretched up and kissed me. Then, to my guilty relief, she curled up and settled down to sleep. Much as I adored her, body and soul, after the day I’d had, I didn’t think I could possibly do her justice if she had wanted a night of passionate lovemaking.
Chapter Thirteen
Perhaps it was relief after unburdening myself to Zosime. Possibly it was pure exhaustion after that seemingly endless day. Either way, I slept deep and dreamlessly, and woke up refreshed the following morning. So refreshed that I rolled over to face my beloved and ran a gentle hand down her flank beneath our cosy blanket.
As she smiled, eyes closed, I shifted closer and kissed her forehead. With a fond murmur, she tilted her face so I could kiss her lips. I slipped my hand behind her back to draw her tighter to me. She reached around and took my wrist, draping my fingers over her breast instead. I felt her nipple tighten beneath my fingertips. She reached down to caress my own stiffening flesh. I propped myself up on my elbow, lowering my mouth to tease her breast with my tongue. Then we both heard a knock at the door.
Zosime opened her eyes. Her gaze met mine. Neither of us spoke.
‘Philocles!’ Kadous’s voice was quiet but urgent. ‘You need to hear this.’
I let my head hang, stifling my frustration.
Zosime ran her fingers through my hair, gripped and lifted my face so she could kiss me with brisk dismissal. ‘Go on.’
We both knew that Kadous wouldn’t intrude without good reason.
As I got out of bed, Zosime swung her feet to the floor. I grabbed a respectable tunic from my chest. By the time Zosime was decently dressed, my erection had subsided and I could open the door without embarrassing myself.
‘Please, come to the gate.’ Kadous beckoned us across the courtyard. Alke was standing in the lane with a cloaked and hooded companion.
‘Onesime?’ Zosime looked at the second woman.
Mikos’s wife pushed back the edge of her hood to look up and down the lane, to be certain that no one saw us talking. Heavy water jars stood by Mikos’s gate, their excuse for going outside without his permission.
‘You saw
