Tyrant (5 page)

‘Silly girl,’ said Dionysius. ‘Silly, silly girl. Of course I’ll come. I didn’t save your life so someone else could have you.’

‘If we were in another situation, I’d say you were making fun of me. But you found me in such a miserable state, deprived of my loved ones, my homeland . . . you’ve got to be sincere! But if you are, why haven’t you kissed me yet?’

Dionysius got up, drew her close and kissed her. She could feel his nudity under the light chlamys and she pulled away, but kept talking: ‘I’m glad you did that. As soon as I first saw you, mounting that splendid black horse, in your armour like Achilles, I thought, won’t the girl he chooses be lucky! And then I thought that even the girl who got a kiss from you would be lucky. It’s not that you can have everything from life.’

Dionysius shook his head. ‘What a talker! Aren’t you hungry?’

‘Of course I’m hungry, but it’s not good manners to say so.’

‘Then let’s go to dinner. We have an invitation.’

‘From who?’

‘We’re going to call on one of the wealthiest men of the city. His name is Tellias. You’ll have dinner with his wife and her friends.’

‘I talk so much because if I don’t, I feel like crying.’

‘Your answers always come late, and never at the right moment.’

‘No, it’s not that. I’m afraid I won’t make a good impression on your friends. I am trying to react, but it feels as though I’m just struggling to keep my head above water so I won’t drown. I won’t be good company.’

‘You can’t stay here alone in the dark; it would only be worse for you. Wait for me downstairs, I’ll dress and be with you in a moment.’

Arete went down the stairs and waited in the little patio, listening to the sounds of the evening: the carts clattering over the cobblestones, the cadenced step of the patrols making their first rounds, the voices of mothers calling their children home. She had just wiped away her tears when she heard Dionysius’s footsteps on the stairs.

‘Tellias was a friend of my father’s,’ Dionysius began to explain, ‘and when my father died in the great war against Athens, he took our family under his wing. I’ve always been his favourite. They’ve never had children of their own, you see, and I think he would have liked a boy. He’s one of the richest men of the city, as I told you, and since this is probably the richest city in the world, you can guess what that means. The wealthy are usually swine who think only of getting fatter. Not Tellias; he’s as rich as Croesus and as fat as a pig, but he’s both wise and generous, an extraordinary man. Just think, once he was just standing under the portico of his house, watching a storm, when a Geloan cavalry squad rode by. Those poor lads were soaking wet, chilled to the bone, and he invited them all in to drink and warm themselves. Can you believe it? An entire squad of horsemen! He had them sit down and gave dry clothes to everyone, and as much to eat and drink as they wanted, until the weather had changed and they could set off again.

‘Another time the city sent him to Rhegium with a legation, and the Rhegines invited him to speak at the theatre. But when he opened his mouth, with that scratchy, silly voice he has, small and plump as he is, someone started laughing and before you knew it, the whole theatre followed suit. The whole place was rocking with laughter.

‘So what do you think he did? Got angry? Flew into a rage?

Not at all. He waited until they had finished, then said: “Laugh all you like; I’m not handsome, nor imposing, and I certainly don’t have a commanding voice. But, you see, that’s how it is where I come from: they send the handsome, vigorous, eloquent ambassadors to important cities, and the little fat ones with the funny voices like me to worthless places like this.” No one felt like laughing after that!’

Arete laughed despite herself, amused. ‘I’d like to meet him.’

‘You will. He’s a charming host, even with the ladies. Wait to speak until he’s spoken to you, though, and after I’ve introduced you, take your leave and go to the women’s quarters. I’ll have you called when it’s time to leave.’

They had reached the entrance to Tellias’s home: a portico with a wooden door that led to a house with whitewashed walls, framed by creeping rose bushes on both sides which gave off a sweet fragrance in the evening air. A servant had them enter and took them to the atrium, where Tellias came to receive them.

‘Dionysius, my boy! I’ve been so anxious since I learned that you’d set off with just fifty men to face the entire Carthaginian army!’

‘Well, at least you still feel like joking,’ replied Dionysius. ‘If you had seen what I’d seen, you’d have lost your taste for it.’

Tellias gestured for both of them to come in. ‘Do not scold me, son, I just meant to say that you were mad to set off with just a handful of men in such a dangerous situation.’

‘At least I was able to help the survivors. We escorted them along a safer route and kept them off the more frequented roads where they could have met with trouble.’

‘You are a headstrong young lad, but I must admit you’re always right in the end. It’s uncanny, really. And who, may I ask, is this gentle dove? She’s beautiful, although I would have said a bit thin for your tastes. Where did you find her? She’s certainly not from Acragas. What father in his right mind would allow you to wander around with her after dark like this? In any case, that lovely long hair of hers tells me that she is a free woman—’

Dionysius cut him short: ‘She’s from Selinus.’

Tellias’s expression suddenly darkened. ‘Oh, poor dear,’ he said, lowering his eyes. ‘Poor little thing.’ He led them along the atrium, which was illuminated by two rows of bronze candelabra, each with four lamps. ‘We respect tradition in this home,’ he said to Arete, ‘and so you’ll dine with my wife and her friends. They are very agreeable and I’m sure you’ll enjoy their company.’ He gestured to a servant who was just entering with a tray of flat bread. ‘She’ll take you upstairs, to the women’s quarters.’

The servant set the tray on the table and Tellias beckoned for her to come closer. He whispered something into her ear. When she had gone up the stairs with Arete, he turned to Dionysius: ‘I asked her to tell the women not to trouble her with tiresome questions. Who knows what pain the poor girl has suffered.’

‘Her whole family was exterminated by those barbarians. If any of them had lived, they would have envied those who died.’

‘Was it so terrible?’

‘I didn’t see Selinus. I found the refugees at about ten stadia from the city. But I’ve listened to their stories. I’ve never heard of such horrors in all my life. Many of the women have totally lost their minds. There’s one of them, a woman of about thirty, who must have been very beautiful. I noticed her that first evening because she was swinging her head back and forth and chanting a kind of dirge. Always that sing-song voice and her eyes staring off into nothing, for hours and hours. The day after, I sat down in front of her and tried to talk, to convince her to eat something. But I realized she couldn’t see me. Her pupils were dilated and her eyes were a bottomless abyss of darkness. No one could get her to eat anything. She’ll surely die, if she hasn’t already.’

‘How many were saved?’

‘I don’t know. Between two and three thousand, I’d say. But many more will die from their injuries and from the torture they’ve suffered.’

A servant brought a jug and a tray and poured water over the hands of the two table companions, handing them a linen cloth to dry them with. Other servants brought the dinner – roast squab with wild apples, sesame bread and red wine from Sybaritis – and the two men began to eat, sitting at a single table placed on the floor between them. Tellias had had the table set in this way because he considered his guest a dear, intimate friend.

‘And now? What do you think will happen?’ he asked.

‘The surviving Selinuntians want to return to their city and exact revenge. They are full of hatred and bitterness, and thirsting for vengeance.’

‘And Syracuse?’

‘Syracuse is the most powerful city on the island. She will assume her responsibilities.’

‘It doesn’t seem that she has done until now.’

‘You’re right. We got there too late; we wasted time in useless debating. That’s democracy, isn’t it? To be fair, it was difficult to imagine such a determined assault, with a similar deployment of means. The city fell in nine days. Nine days, understand? That’s never happened before, as far as anyone can remember.’

‘You’re right. It took ten years for Troy to fall . . . Wars are entirely different now. It’s machines that make war these days, not men.’

‘The refugees told me that the assault towers were at least twenty feet taller than the walls and that they were assembled there, on site. They unloaded the numbered parts from their ships and transported them to where they would be used. There were iron-headed battering rams hanging from wooden frames that swung back and forth—’ Dionysius stopped suddenly, got to his feet and drew a long sigh. ‘There’s something I haven’t told you about the girl.’

‘Let’s hear, if you think I’m worthy of your confidence.’

‘She’s not from Selinus.’

‘What?’

‘She’s the daughter of Hermocrates.’

‘That’s impossible!’

‘No, I’m sure of it. She doesn’t know, but I recognized her. I found her among the refugees, more dead than alive.’

‘Gods of the heavens! No less than the daughter of Hermocrates. But what was she doing at Selinus?’

‘You know the way things have been going lately in Syracuse. Hermocrates was off commanding our fleet in the Aegean, backing the Spartans against Athens. But Diocles managed to set the people against him by claiming that he was aspiring to personal power, that he was a danger to the democracy and other similar nonsense. With the help of his henchmen planted here and there and well represented in the Assembly, Diocles succeeded in ruining the man’s good standing while he was far away and could not defend himself. Hermocrates became so blameworthy in the eyes of the people that they decided to oust him with an order of the Assembly. At that point, a warship was sent off with the order of dismissal and a summons to appear before the Council to make a full report and answer to the accusations that had been made against him.’

‘Did he do that?’

‘He was wise enough not to. As soon as he read the message, he put out to sea with his combat unit and disappeared. No one knows where he is now.’

‘I’m beginning to understand.’

‘You’re thinking what I am. Hermocrates must have realized that his family were in danger and he had both his wife and daughter transferred to Selinus, where I believe he had trusted friends. He could not have imagined what would happen.’

Dionysius fell back into silence. The two men rapidly exchanged glances. Tellias was struck by an appalling suspicion: ‘You can’t be thinking that . . . ?’

‘That the government of Syracuse deliberately delayed sending help so that Hermocrates’s family would be wiped out in the fall of Selinus? Hard to say, but if you imagine the worst, you’re rarely wrong. I can’t rule it out. Those sods, they’re nothing but a bunch of conniving demagogues! They’re capable of anything, believe me.’

‘You’re exaggerating now. Tell me what your intentions are.’

‘I don’t know. I’ve kept her with me because I can’t trust anyone. But I must return to Syracuse tomorrow and I cannot take her there with me, as much as I would like to. If anyone recognizes her, it would surely mean trouble for her. And for me as well. I don’t want anyone to know anything about what I think, or about whose side I’m on. They need me; I’m one of their best combatants and that’s all they need to know for now.’

‘Right. And then?’

‘I don’t even want her to know that I’ve recognized her.’

‘Why not?’

‘She would have told me herself had she wanted to. She doesn’t trust me enough yet, and I can’t blame her. She’s all alone, frightened. Anyone would be in her situation.’

‘Go on.’

‘Would you keep her here with you?’

Tellias seemed to hesitate.

‘Please,’ insisted Dionysius.

‘Of course. How could you doubt it? She’s a fine girl, and she’s been through so much. We’ll be happy to have her, if you feel she’d be happy here with us.’

Dionysius smiled in relief. ‘I’ve told her all about you. I’ve said that you’re fat as a pig and rich as Croesus, but that you’re a good man despite all that . . . the best I know.’

Tellias shook his head, embarrassed, then pushed the tray towards his guest: ‘Eat, you must be famished.’