Ancient World 02 - Raiders of the Nile (7 page)

“What did these men look like? How were they dressed?”

She shrugged. “Common tunics, nothing special. It wasn’t their clothes I noticed. It was the expression on their faces. They were up to no good.”

“What does that mean?”

“When you work in a market like this, you learn to tell who’s a customer and who’s not. You also learn to spot the ones who are here to steal something. These fellows weren’t here to shop. They weren’t locals from the neighborhood. Nor were they tourists, passing through. And they didn’t have the look of petty thieves or pickpockets, if I’m any judge. So why were they here, hanging about, and what were they up to? Nothing good, that’s for sure.”

“Were they following the girls?” I heard my voice break.

“That’s what I’m asking myself. I was just about to shoo the girls from the stall when I noticed those two men. Then the girls left, giggling—richly amused by the dirty looks I was giving them, I suppose.”

“And the two men?”

She shook her head. “I don’t remember seeing them again, after that. They must have moved on, but I don’t know which way they went. Perhaps they followed the girls. Or perhaps they didn’t.” She shrugged.

At last I returned to the waterfront, feeling completely stumped.

Should I return to my room in Rhakotis? The chance that Bethesda would have gone there, without me, seemed remote. Nevertheless, if she had gone back, she would have been able to let herself in, for the door had no lock and key. (The only lock was a simple block of wood that swiveled to bar the door from the inside, to insure our privacy when we slept or were otherwise engaged; security was provided by the landlord and his wife, who lived on the ground floor and kept an eye on people coming and going.)

There was another possibility: that Melmak had forcibly taken her. He had mentioned wanting to use her in his troupe and had offered to pay me. I had refused, and that seemed to end the discussion. Melmak had seemed like a nice enough fellow, but what did I really know about him, or about Axiothea?

What if Melmak had put some sort of drug in my beer, causing me to fall asleep even as Axiothea lured Bethesda from my side? That would have allowed the whole troupe to scurry off, absconding with my slave and leaving me to wake up an hour later, alone.

Then I recalled that we had all drunk the beer from the same cup; it seemed unlikely that Melmak could have drugged my share. Nonetheless, he had encouraged me to drink more than the others, and beer alone could be counted on to put a man to sleep on a warm day.

I was suddenly certain of it: Melmak had taken Bethesda from me. The scoundrel! Well, I thought, soon enough he would realize his mistake. I had been able to afford Bethesda only because she had been a highly problematic slave, causing nothing but trouble for all her previous masters. Many had owned her for less than a day before returning her to the market. She was the exact opposite of the compliant, obedient slave most men desired. Bethesda could be counted on to put up quite a fight—

Or could she? If Melmak and the troupe had forcibly taken her, against her will, why had the abduction gone unnoticed by the vendors in the marketplace?

Because they had befuddled her with beer, I thought, for she too had drunk a small portion. And because they had lied to her, saying that I had gone somewhere and they were taking her to meet me, or spinning some other tale to lure her away quietly. Or because …

Had she gone with them
willingly
?

This thought disturbed me more than any other. Had Bethesda left me to go with the mime troupe of her own volition? If so, why? Was the lure of the acting life so appealing to her? Or … had she grown weary of me? Or—most chilling thought of all—had she never cared for me in the first place? Had all her sighing and moaning during all the hours of our lovemaking been a pretense, a show to please a master whom she secretly despised as much as she had despised all her previous masters? Was that the emotion that lurked behind her unreadable, catlike facade—derision for the feckless young master she had played for a fool?

No, that was not possible.

Or was it?

The fears and doubts that assailed me were most unseemly for a Roman to experience in regard to his slave, no matter how beautiful and alluring and special that slave might be. I experienced many conflicting, confusing emotions at once, but most of all I felt anxious.

Where was Bethesda?

I decided that my next course of action would be to seek out the mime troupe. Actors were notorious for keeping no fixed abode, moving from place to place to stay ahead of the disapproving authorities, but surely someone would be able to put me on to their scent. I had spent the last two years in Alexandria practicing my father’s livelihood, making contacts and digging up dirt for others. Now I would put those skills to use for myself.

*   *   *

So I spent the rest of my birthday crisscrossing Alexandria and inquiring after the mime troupe of Melmak. People knew at once whom I was talking about. “Ah, the troupe with the trained monkey,” some would say, or “the one with those two adorable pipe players,” or (most frequently) “the one with that ravishing young actress who runs through the streets naked!” Many people would also nod if I described a man with a white stripe bisecting his hair and beard, though few knew the artificer Lykos by name.

Everyone knew Melmak’s troupe, but no one knew where they lived or how to contact them. It was a curious thing, in such a teeming city, that seven males, one female, and a monkey, all so conspicuous when they wished to be, could be so invisible offstage.

While asking questions about the mime troupe, I also made sure to mention, as if by chance, the waterfront market, just to see if anyone had been there that day. As it turned out, a few of my contacts had indeed gone shopping or at least passed through the market. Unfortunately, I encountered no one who had seen two girls fitting my description of Bethesda and Axiothea—until, toward the end of the day, I dropped in on a pair of elderly eunuchs who were retired from royal service and lived together in a beautifully furnished apartment not far from the palace.

Their names were Kettel and Berynus. They had never asked me to pay for information, but instead always seemed glad to see me, steering me to a comfortable couch, lighting a bit of incense, and doting over me like aunts with a favorite nephew. The two eunuchs were a font of information about the private lives of just about anyone connected with the palace, but experience had taught me that they were not entirely reliable; they tended to let their imaginations run away with them. Since palace gossip was their specialty, I had no reason to think they would know anything about Melmak, and indeed they did not. But when I mentioned the waterfront market, their eyebrows shot up.

“Oh, they have the most lovely jewelry there!” Kettel, who was enormously fat, held up one arm. A great mass of flesh hung from the limb like a chicken’s wattle. He shook his plump hand, rattling the bangles at his wrist. “I bought this lovely bronze bracelet there earlier today.”

“And paid too much!” said Berynus, who was as slender as his companion was fat. He touched a bit of lapis that hung from a chain around his bony neck. “I got this pretty necklace for half the price of that hideous bracelet.”

“Both pieces are very nice,” I said.

Kettel tittered at the compliment. Berynus fluttered his eyelashes and reached up to adjust his wig. I took it for granted that both eunuchs shaved their heads, but even in the privacy of their home I had never seen either without an elaborate and expensive-looking hairpiece.

“What time were you there, at the market?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

“Oh, a little before midday,” said Kettel. “Any earlier and the prices are too high. Any later and all the good stuff is gone.”

“I see. Did you happen to notice a beautiful young woman, wearing green, with black hair—?”

“Why, yes, we did,” said Berynus.

“That’s right, we did,” said Kettel.

My heart skipped a beat. “You both seem very certain.”

Berynus raised an eyebrow. “That’s because we had an argument.”

“An argument? Did you speak to her?”

“No, no, no. Not an argument
with
her; an argument
about
her. Neither of us spoke to her. We only saw her. Except we didn’t see the same thing,” said Kettel.

“What do you mean?”

They looked at each other, as if deciding who should speak first. Kettel began. “I had to leave the market for a moment, to attend to the call of nature. Up the street, a block past the market and around a corner, there’s a public latrina. When I finished and stepped outside, a little farther up the street I saw the very girl you’ve just described. She was being dragged off by a couple of rather rough-looking fellows, and putting up quite a fight.”

My heart pounded in my chest. “Did no one stop them?”

“This was some distance from the market. Not a lot of people were around. I did call out, but the fellows told me to shut up and mind my own business. They said the girl was a runaway slave, and they were returning her to her master.”

“And you believed them?”

“Why not? Even if things were not quite as they appeared—well, these days, when one sees any sort of scuffle in the street, one never knows what to think. You never know who might be on the royal payroll, never mind how brutish they look, or who might be a common criminal, or who might even be a spy! Everything is so out of control. Not like the good old days, when old Queen Cleopatra was firmly in charge. These days it’s best to mind one’s business and not get involved.”

“So no one helped the girl?” I tried to keep my voice steady. “The two men just took her off?”

Kettel shrugged. “I suppose so. I didn’t really think much about it, until I rejoined Berynus at the market and happened to mention what I had seen—and he told me I must be imagining things!”

“Why did you say that, Berynus?”

The eunuch folded his long, slender hands. “Because I had just seen the
same
girl—and with no ruffians about. The girl in green was heading off in the
opposite
direction, toward the waterfront, and she was in no distress whatsoever. A little boy was leading her by the hand.”

“A little boy?”

“A messenger, I presume. Well-dressed, so from a wealthy household, but on his own, so not freeborn but a slave. The dark-haired beauty in green was following along behind the boy and looking rather pleased with herself.”

“What made you think it was the same girl that Kettel saw?”

Berynus pursed his thin lips. “The more closely Kettel described the girl he had seen, the more exactly she matched my girl—and really, what are the chances of
two
ravishing young brunettes in green dresses both being in the market at the same time? I’m sure Kettel saw
something,
but he probably misunderstood what was going on. This happens all the time. It’s sad, at his age, how his mind has begun to play tricks on him.”

“Oh, you son of a crocodile!” snapped Kettel. “You’re the one who imagines things! You probably never even saw such a girl. It was only after I described her that you suddenly ‘remembered’ seeing her. It’s
your
mind that plays tricks!”

“Or perhaps you
both
saw just what you thought you saw,” I said, my heart sinking.

“How could that be?” Berynus raised an eyebrow. “Why are you asking about such a girl, Gordianus? Who is she, and what is she to you?”

I shook my head and made no answer, and quickly took my leave.

Escaping the clouds of incense that perfumed the eunuchs’ apartment, I was desperate for fresh air, but it gave me no relief. My chest was so tight I could hardly breathe.

The sun was beginning to sink and cast long shadows. Dinnertime sounds and smells of cooking wafted on the air, but I had no appetite.

As I finally headed home, I tried to make sense of what the eunuchs had told me. If their stories were to be trusted, one had seen Axiothea and the other had seen Bethesda, at precisely the same time. One of the girls had been abducted, while the other was led off by a slave boy—but which was which?

I arrived at the tenement more uncertain and anxious than ever. I entered the building, walked past the landlord’s apartment, and trudged up the stairway. In my heart of hearts, I was hoping that when I reached the top floor, and pushed open the door to my room, Bethesda would be there, waiting for me.

What possible explanation could she have for her disappearance? It didn’t matter. I only wanted her to be there.

I opened the door. I stepped inside.

The room was empty.

I closed the door and barred it with the little block of wood, then fell onto the bed, thinking I would never fall asleep. But the long day had worn me out. I closed my eyes and fell into a dreamless slumber.

VI

When I woke the next day, the room seemed emptier than ever.

Where was Bethesda? What had become of her?

I began my search for Melmak and his troupe all over again. I had exhausted my regular sources, so I started from scratch, brazenly approaching complete strangers. I regretted that I had spent so much money on the new dress for Bethesda. Coins can loosen tongues, but my moneybag was almost empty.

At the end of that long, miserable day, I knew no more than when I woke.

Another day passed, and still I learned nothing new. Waves of anger and despair surged through me, alternating with a numb sensation. Each time I returned to my room, a part of me expected Bethesda to be there, waiting for me. But the room was always empty.

It was quite by chance that I entered a tavern in Rhakotis one afternoon, only a few steps from the building where I lived, thinking I would spend my last few coins on a cup of decent Greek wine—and at the back of the dim room I saw Melmak.

Shadows hid his face, but it had to be him. The monkey was sitting on his shoulder.

I stepped back into a dark corner and for a while I simply watched him, making sure he was alone. Then I carefully scanned the room, spotting all the possible exits. Now that I had finally found him, I didn’t want him to slip from my grasp. It occurred to me that I had no weapon except a small knife, more suitable for intimidating a monkey than a man. Also, Melmak was probably stronger than I was. He was certainly bigger. But I would have the advantage of surprise, not to mention righteous anger.