by Ken Farmer
With a frown of sadness, he looked at the unappealing sight for a moment. His hope had been to gain vengeance by himself for the evil done by the man to his agents - and the Sage - but he had long known that both of his crewmen would cut their way through the hordes of Hades to confront the man who had orchestrated the vile actions against a harmless oldster.
Casting such thoughts aside, he called to the Centurion. "Have your men put those scum to clearing the decks of carrion. And put their putrid Master under guard on the Petrel, and give that I will be most displeased if he should throw himself overboard - or onto the blade of a soldier. Kaeso!" The First Mate had climbed the ladder and now hurried to the summons. "I congratulate you, my friend - you have a ship, Capitaneus. I can only give you Ngozi and Flavius as crewmen, but you may take ten of the Legionaries as help with the ropes. I suggest that you only use the center mast, and partial sail. Even with such shortened cloth, Salamis is only a few days away. There, we will find sufficient men to take the ship back to Capua."
It was with wide-eyed surprise, that the man heard the words, but quickly a grin emerged and he said, "Aye, Capitaneus. In these airs, even a shortened crew will be sufficient."
Quickly, the decks were cleaned of bodies, if not the stains of red fluid that had gushed in quantity, and both ships set their course to the southwest. With barely enough trained seamen for both ships, their pace was less than full, and a critical eye was continually on the horizon for any sudden storm that would wreck havoc on such undermanned vessels.
The gods were serenely disposed toward the little fleet - or mayhap, busy in the torment of some other realm of the sea - but by the third morning, the harbor of Salamis was in view.
Book IV
Chapter 33
The nuptial ceremonies of a man belonging to one of the leading families of Capua was, of course, a city-wide festival. The main Via was festooned with flowers and greenery, marking the path of the Exposa from her home to the temple of Jupiter. As for Julius himself, tradition for the man was far less pompous - he merely walked to the huge edifice with his friends. Actually, the word for his companions was an overstatement. The young nobles were indeed the boys that he had grown up with, but their paths had diverged a double handful of years ago - now they were merely friends, not as the Friends that he had on the Petrel. Unfortunately, even a family as highly placed as the Clavius household could not overcome the iron-clad conventions of Roman society. The crew was indeed in presence, but back in the crowd with the Plebeians of the city.
Until the approach of the bride, the young men and their male family members japed and gabbed with each other, passing the interminable time as the procession of the woman wound its way to the temple. Along the route, the party would halt at the temple of Ceres, to light the sacred torch in entreaty for the goddess to impart fertility to the soon-to-be-joined couple. Then finally, the men began to quiet and take their places as the sound of drums and horns announced the approach of the woman. Julius could see the noble Camilia in the lead, flanked by her Mater as well as his own, the Domina Clavius, and a myriad of other females - some related, some merely of such importance in the city as to be included.
In the procession, following closely behind the bride in a place of great honor, was a young virginius - barely nubile, but obviously on the cusp of developing into a femina. Julius grinned to himself, thinking of the indignation of the city should they actually be told of the genesis of the young woman...
The Petrel and its prize had hove into the port of Salamis, to wharf beside the merchant of Fundanus and the missive boat of Decimus. The winds had been less than optimum, but the voyage was without incident from the weather - a fortunate circumstance, as the number of experienced crew for the two ships was far below what was normally needed for manning.
From the captured vessel, only a few were still alive - including Dionysophanes, the evil merchant that had been the cause of much death and chaos in the land just across the sea. Even now, he was still in the hold of the Petrel, guarded at all times by two soldiers, and with a heavy rope around his neck that he not attempt to leap overboard in search of more clemency from the dark lord of Hades than he could expect from the throne of Antiochus.
The next two days were taken in restoring the Petrel to its usual trimness, and it must be said - some considerable celebration. As Patroclus had stated, even before the Petrel had stood out for the wait off the port of Antioch, a man of high place does not agreeably abandon his wealth. In the two-masted ship was the treasury of the merchant, placed on board to flee with the man himself.
Julius had no intention of declaring it as profits for their labor - the house of Clavius made its coin by honest trade, not as in emulation of pirates on the sea. Still, it would have use - part of it would allow the Centurion and his soldiers to become wealthy men, each able to return to their birth cities and purchase a farm, or inn, or drinkery. The crews of the three - now four - vessels would gain a generous portion to be added to their tally back in the scrolls of the numerarii in the scribery of Clavius. And another person would have gain from the chests of coin - a female that could claim part of it as genuinely hers.
A pair of crew from the ship of Fundanus was moved to the new vessel, that it might have a nucleus of veteran sailors, then several more were engaged to fill the holes in the roster and to bring the larger vessel up to the count needed for manning. With apologies to the Captain of the merchant ship, the crewman Maccalus was moved to the Petrel to bring the manning number back to the usual, following the move of Kaeso to his own command.
Julius delivered a fat scroll with the happenings of the past days to Fundanus, for delivery to his brother, then gave the order for the two merchants to stand out for Capua. The little speculatoria he retained in need of further forwarding of messages.
Then, with the original crew of the Petrel back together, less the first mate, Kaeso, now a full Capitaneus, they stood out of Salamis for Antioch again. This harboring two days later was without incident, as he expected. The port was heavily patrolled with soldiers - not looking as Legionaries, but fighting men indeed, rather than the usual Vigilis that usually maintained the peace of a city. Densus was now the first mate of the Petrel, a goodly choice and posted without fear of envy by the others. Flavius would never give up his love of wood and constant repair of a hull, and neither Judoc nor Ngozi had any interest in such promotion.
As the bollard ropes were fastened, Julius checked his purse to make sure the small tablet with the royal seal was within, then with Ngozi and Melglos made ready to disembark, but stopped with a call from Densus, standing on the forepeak. "Look on yon road."
"By the gods," exclaimed Melglos, "The man has come from the lair of the jackel itself." Across the port road they could see their agent, Heraklides, in approach and in company with another. With a grin the man waved as he saw the recognition of his arrival, then strode onto the dock to meet Julius.
"By the gods, indeed," gave Julius with his own grin. "We were hoping to at least find your carcass that we might give you whatever rites a Greek needs to enter the Elysian Fields."
The man gave a wry smile, then answered, "Nay, when the soldiers of Antiochus stormed the town, a mere agent from some misbegotten city to the north was not even of notice by the frantic men in their attempt to flee." He turned and gestured to the figure beside him, a man of more than youth, but certainly not passing the mark of middle age for many more years. "This be Mehrab, a citizen of Thapsacus, far to the east, and a rendering scribe for Dionysophanes. And a man of some honesty." Heraklides smiled at the man, then continued, "He was given the order to burn the archives of the merchantry, a task that he did not manage to accomplish." Now a pause, with a more serious look. "Dionysophanes escaped with his gold and men on their big ship."
Melglos snorted. "Nay, he did not. He has decided to return and give an account of his misdeeds."
Puzzled, the agent look back and forth at the two men, then asked, "What is your meaning
?"
Julius waved the question away. "You will learn of it soon enough, and in droning repetition as soon as the men reach yon taverna. But, your story is what I wish." Turning, he shouted to Densus. "Post an anchor watch, then allow the men to take their rest in the port." Back to the agent, he said, "And you, come. We will take a cup and trade our tales."
Waving a hand to invite the pair to proceed, they walked from the wharf toward the closest drinkery. Julius had no doubt that it was open, even if the rest of the port was in some manner of chaos. Wine would be sold and available even if the gods descended from their mountain to close out the world. As they crossed the road, he said, "Hold a moment." A small unit of soldiers were in march down the pave, on their assigned sentry go, with a low ranking officer in the front. He waited until they approached, then held up a hand. "My pardon, Kurios. I would speak to your Commanding officer about a matter of some importance."
The accent gave him as foreign, of course, and as an unlikely supplicant to any high commander of soldiery. "The Tagmatarches has little time for converse with an outlander." The disdain was as thick as bee-syrup on a cold day.
Julius drew the clay tablet from his purse, holding it that the minor officer could see the raised impression. "What of an emissary of the Throne? Mayhap his interest might grow?" It might, but probably not as wide as the eyes of the officer. "I wish to speak with him without delay, before I report to the King." He pointed. "We will be waiting in yon taverna. I suggest that you send word with all haste."
Julius grinned at Melglos and Ngozi, then waved his men and the two newcomers toward the drinkery. Inside, they began to give each other the story. That of Julius was easily said, then it was the turn of Heraklides. "...first indication of it was the sudden turmoil in the scribery. Of course, I knew something of what was to happen, but the tales flew back in forth with each servant that ran into the room." He chuckled as he took a quaff. "The Gauls were sweeping through the town, then the plains barbarians from the far northeastern reaches. Had I bothered to listen, I may have learned that the Egyptians were storming the city."
"It was early morning, I assume."
"Aye. Almost before the break of day. I saw the vault being emptied of chests, and knew that Dionysophanes would flee on his ship." He nodded to the man next to him. "As I said, this is Mehrab, employed as a renderer for trade to the east. He gives translation between Greek and the tongue of his land. But, with some unwillingness."
Julius looked at the man with interest. "You are from Media, if my boyhood memory of maps is still goodsome."
The man nodded. "Aye, Hiros. But left my birth city as a boy, with my Pedar, during the insurgency of the Utians. He was employed by the merchant, Hermotimos, until the warehouses of that man were purchased by Dionysophanes." Most of the words and names meant nothing to Julius, but it was certainly interesting that the man from afar could speak the Greek tongue almost as a native - certainly better than himself.
Now Heraklides took up the tale. "His Pedar... Patéras was taken in employment with Dionysophanes, with his son learning the trade as he grew. But, the eyes of the older man began to fail and with some rapidity, and was cast from employment, to starve in the streets except for the piteous wage of the son, now taking the place of his elder, but at a quarter of the remuneration." A grim look at his companion, then, "Thusly, Mehrab had little like of his employer."
Now Julius asked, "What of your comment about burning the archives?"
"Ah. Aye. All of the servants had fled, or were absent in attempt to discover what was occurring, leaving only Mehrab and another. Dionysophanes came into the room in haste, carrying a torch, then giving the orders to set fire to the scroll depository. I arrived just as the merchant was running from the room, but he did not even acknowledge my presence in passing. Mehrab told me of the command that he had just been given."
"And the scrolls?"
Now the man smiled. "There is much written over many years that would not be in the interest of Dionysophanes to become known. We decided that our task would be to preserve such interesting reading. Closing the door to the huge archive, we stacked boxes and tablets, a table or two and chairs to give disguise to the entry. Of course, any who worked in the room will know and give wonder at the pile against the wall, but for any other to enter, it will just be an ordinary scribery."
Julius nodded, leaning back against the wall and enjoying the cool wine. Then he asked, "Your remuneration for your service will be great indeed - enough for you to open your own scribery. That being said, do you still wish a position as our agent in this port?"
"Aye, Kurios. Of course. Might I give any hirements by my own needs?"
"Certainly. All of our agents are independent of close control by my family. If you can best conduct your business using dancing parthénes from the temple of Aphroditē, then neither I nor my brother will give rebuke..."
He broke off as a man entered the taverna, flanked by two of his staff - the Commander of the soldiers that had secured the port, without doubt. Stopping before the table, as Julius rose to face the officer, he saluted with his baton and asked, "Kapetánios Clavius?" At the nod, he continued, "Kaeneus, Tagmatarches of the second Sýntagma to Antioch. I was given orders by King Antiochus to see to your needs without question."
"Aye, Kurios," replied Julius. "For the nonce, I need only a small detail to give escort of a prisoner to the Palace."
The man nodded. "How many do you wish for the unit?"
"A contuber..." he stopped at the Roman term, knowing that it would mean nothing to the officer. Unable to remember the word for any small unit of Greek soldiers, he said, "Eight men will do sufficiently. We will leave as soon as you detail them to me." With another salute of the baton, the officer turned and strode out the door. To the black man and the Thracian, he said, "Bring our guest from the ship."
The days passed, with the crew of the Petrel merely enjoying their treks between taverna and brothel, but full from daylight to dark for Julius and Patroclus - the old man now able to move about, if not too far or in any need of haste, The Captain hired a lectica for his use, to take the man here and there to examine buildings that Heraklides had suggested would be satisfactory for the agency. Of course, Julius walked alongside.
Finding a suitable location, an artisan was hired to cleanse and alter the building to suit, the coin offered for the labor such that the crew began immediately. As a storage room was cleared, and provided with a sturdy door, another group of laborers began to move the scrolls from the offices of Dionysophanes. The port was still in some considerable chaos, with some of the tradesmen deciding that their past relationships with the putrid merchant would not survive close inspection, should anyone decide to do so. Those had decamped for other climes - at least until the situation in Antioch became clearer. Others, more honest, or confident, had little activity as the wharves of the port were empty of all except the Petrel and a coaster or two. The ships that had fled the confusion of the removal of Dionysophanes would return, and trade along with them, but not until word spread across the Sea that the situation had returned to normal.
He had had audience with the King - and Queen Mother - several times, more for them to ask about his opinion of Roman desires in the future, than any discussion of what had transpired in the last month. For himself, the mission was ended - the agency of the family in Antioch was reestablished and unlikely to disappear in the depths of a night. Capitaneus Decimus had been sent back to Capua with that news and that the Petrel would soon be returning.
Pontika had become a favorite of the Queen Mother, with full access to the court and with her own room in the Palace. Her place was easily seen by Julius, watching all in the compound bowing and smiling as she passed. The plain tunics and such that she had worn on the Petrel were not only a memory - even as an unfledged woman she was a well-favored sight to the eyes in her glistening female robes - a chiton to a Greek - and a himation that covered her hair and fell to the shoulders.
Heraklides and Mehrab - the new senior Numerarius of the agency - had found in the piles of archived scrolls of Dionysophanes, the accounting of the theft from one Echemmon of Antioch, the father of Pontika. Delivering the ugly evidence to the Queen Mother, the three - with Julius and the Korí - had a long converse on the matter of restoring the rights and property of the girl. The family property in Antioch city had long passed to another man - an honest purchaser that had had no hand in the thievery. The warehouses in the port itself were in the holdings of Dionysophanes and could easily be returned to the girl, but...