where she'd been rammed. No mast missing. No keening of widows and orphans.
'Everything comes to those who wait, whether they want it or not,' a cracked voice said.
Volcar? 'What are you doing hiding behind trees?'
'Thinking,' the old man said.
'Drinking more like.' She could smell it from here.
'Thinking, drinking, same thing at my age. A man drinks to think and thinks to drink, sod all else to do in this dreary backwater.'
We have murder, vendettas, eviction orders on children and execution orders on dolphins. We have sisters at war, a bitter ex-wife, scandal, financial betrayal, the clash of artistic egos and the dark influence of a Persian astrologer. What kind of a life had Volcar led that he considers this dreary?
'Why don't you go back to Rome?'
The old boy spat in the dust. 'Ask Leo. See what answer you get from him.' He pointed his stick at the Medea. 'What d'you make of that business, then, gel?'
What indeed. She ought to have been relieved; everyone home safe and well. Instead, anger flared in Claudia's breast. Damn you, Leo. Damn you to hell. You are reckless, feckless and utterly irresponsible. You callously risked the lives of dozens of men in the name of your own naked pride. Then
she remembered the body of a young apprentice chained to the pillar. And maybe, just maybe, Leo's impetuosity didn't seem quite so misdirected after all.
'What happened?' she asked.
'You tell me.' Rheumy eyes flashed a surprisingly shrewd sideways glance. 'First I know of it is Leo, standing with his hands on his hips, and smug wasn't the half of it. "Take my word, uncle, the murdering bastard will think twice about tangling with Rome from now on".'
Claudia's eyes stood on stalks. 'He actually sank the pirate ship?'
'Sink the Soskia?' Volcar's wheezy chuckle drowned the rasping of the cicadas. 'That'll be the day, when someone scuppers Jason! But to hear Leo go on, gel, you'd think he'd won the Battle of Actium.
'"Did that headless chicken run!" he laughed. "First, he ducked round the point and when he saw I was still on his tail, he put out across the Gulf to outrun me, but he was no match for my Medea. Realizing his tactics weren't working, he tried to lose me round the islands, but that warship hasn't a fraction of the manoeuvring power you might think, Uncle, and in the end I sent him scurrying away across the open water, tail between his legs."' Volcar smacked his gums loudly and with relish. 'You're an intelligent woman. What's your verdict on that little episode?'
Trust no one, the little voice whispered again. Trust no one.
Age had not diminished the old man's senses, they were every bit as sharp as a man half his age. He'd been able to recount Leo's triumph word for word, and in doing so had revealed how Jason had indeed mocked Leo with a humiliating chase round the Gulf, just as Claudia had anticipated. But Volcar had not stopped there. The old man had deliberately gone on to expose Leo's arrogance in believing he'd won the encounter. The smell of rodent tickled her nostrils. Why would Volcar confide his kin's shortcomings to a virtual stranger?
'What's my verdict?' Claudia tucked a wayward curl back under its ivory hairpin. 'What I say, Volcar, is that if a man can smile when things have gone arse over tip, then he's
found someone to blame it on. Tell me what you know about Jason.'
'There's others here better qualified to answer that question, gel.'
'Leo?'
One skinny shoulder shrugged slightly. 'Could be.'
Strange time to start acting coy. 'Where is he?'
'Search me, gel. And just think of the pleasure you'd give a lonely old man while you do it.'
Still laughing, Claudia swept along the portico towards Leo's private quarters. This was where the sculptor Magnus - correction, the sculptor Magnus - had depicted scenes from the Odyssey on a magnificent marble frieze and Claudia was following the hero's adventures as he faced everything from the wrath of the man-eating
'Everything comes to those who wait, whether they want it or not,' a cracked voice said.
Volcar? 'What are you doing hiding behind trees?'
'Thinking,' the old man said.
'Drinking more like.' She could smell it from here.
'Thinking, drinking, same thing at my age. A man drinks to think and thinks to drink, sod all else to do in this dreary backwater.'
We have murder, vendettas, eviction orders on children and execution orders on dolphins. We have sisters at war, a bitter ex-wife, scandal, financial betrayal, the clash of artistic egos and the dark influence of a Persian astrologer. What kind of a life had Volcar led that he considers this dreary?
'Why don't you go back to Rome?'
The old boy spat in the dust. 'Ask Leo. See what answer you get from him.' He pointed his stick at the Medea. 'What d'you make of that business, then, gel?'
What indeed. She ought to have been relieved; everyone home safe and well. Instead, anger flared in Claudia's breast. Damn you, Leo. Damn you to hell. You are reckless, feckless and utterly irresponsible. You callously risked the lives of dozens of men in the name of your own naked pride. Then
she remembered the body of a young apprentice chained to the pillar. And maybe, just maybe, Leo's impetuosity didn't seem quite so misdirected after all.
'What happened?' she asked.
'You tell me.' Rheumy eyes flashed a surprisingly shrewd sideways glance. 'First I know of it is Leo, standing with his hands on his hips, and smug wasn't the half of it. "Take my word, uncle, the murdering bastard will think twice about tangling with Rome from now on".'
Claudia's eyes stood on stalks. 'He actually sank the pirate ship?'
'Sink the Soskia?' Volcar's wheezy chuckle drowned the rasping of the cicadas. 'That'll be the day, when someone scuppers Jason! But to hear Leo go on, gel, you'd think he'd won the Battle of Actium.
'"Did that headless chicken run!" he laughed. "First, he ducked round the point and when he saw I was still on his tail, he put out across the Gulf to outrun me, but he was no match for my Medea. Realizing his tactics weren't working, he tried to lose me round the islands, but that warship hasn't a fraction of the manoeuvring power you might think, Uncle, and in the end I sent him scurrying away across the open water, tail between his legs."' Volcar smacked his gums loudly and with relish. 'You're an intelligent woman. What's your verdict on that little episode?'
Trust no one, the little voice whispered again. Trust no one.
Age had not diminished the old man's senses, they were every bit as sharp as a man half his age. He'd been able to recount Leo's triumph word for word, and in doing so had revealed how Jason had indeed mocked Leo with a humiliating chase round the Gulf, just as Claudia had anticipated. But Volcar had not stopped there. The old man had deliberately gone on to expose Leo's arrogance in believing he'd won the encounter. The smell of rodent tickled her nostrils. Why would Volcar confide his kin's shortcomings to a virtual stranger?
'What's my verdict?' Claudia tucked a wayward curl back under its ivory hairpin. 'What I say, Volcar, is that if a man can smile when things have gone arse over tip, then he's
found someone to blame it on. Tell me what you know about Jason.'
'There's others here better qualified to answer that question, gel.'
'Leo?'
One skinny shoulder shrugged slightly. 'Could be.'
Strange time to start acting coy. 'Where is he?'
'Search me, gel. And just think of the pleasure you'd give a lonely old man while you do it.'
Still laughing, Claudia swept along the portico towards Leo's private quarters. This was where the sculptor Magnus - correction, the sculptor Magnus - had depicted scenes from the Odyssey on a magnificent marble frieze and Claudia was following the hero's adventures as he faced everything from the wrath of the man-eating
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