Killer of Men - Christian Cameron [176]
And that saved my life.
I took Paramanos and his fishing boat, with Herakleides and Stephanos to help guard the Phoenician prisoners. The four of us were enough to work the boat, and we made a party of it – three hundred stades in a fishing boat, and I was beginning to ‘learn the ropes’, as the fishermen say. I thought that I knew sailing and the sea – until I met Paramanos. He taught me that I didn’t even know how much I had to learn, and I’m lucky the lesson didn’t cost a lot of men their lives.
At any rate, we had beautiful weather. Even the three Phoenicians seemed to enjoy the trip – at least, they laughed at our jokes and ate our food with gusto.
It was early autumn, and the rain might have fallen on us, but it didn’t, and we went around the long point of the islands and kept the mountain of Lepetymnos on our left hands, and before the moon rose on the third day we had the port of Methymna over the bow. I knew it from my visits as a slave, and when I was first a free man sailing with Archi. And I remembered that he had a house here, and a factor.
We beached with the fishing boats, right under the walls of the town, where a spit of rocks makes Poseidon’s own natural harbour. There was a Phoenician merchant trireme on the deep beach south of the citadel. I walked up to the guard post, explained my business to the captain of the guard and received his respectful salute. He knew my name. I was flattered, and flattery put me in a good mood, so when I returned to my crew, I thought to do the Phoenicians a favour.
‘Any point in waiting?’ I asked.
Paramanos shrugged. ‘I expect these gentlemen would like to be free,’ he said.
I walked them down the beach and left them with Stephanos and Herakleides, right under the wall where the gate-guard could hear us if the Phoenicians decided to take their friends by force.
But of course, the Phoenician captain wasn’t aboard. He was up in the town, being hosted by his trading partners. The war hadn’t stopped trade – far from it. And Mytilene’s loss was Methymna’s gain.
But the fourth man – the youngest – was there. He jumped down to the beach, ran past me and threw his arms around his uncle and the other two.
‘The ransom is down in the hold,’ he said. ‘We will sway it up in the morning.’ He looked at me, and I didn’t like the look. I was getting to be afraid of my own shadow. ‘Or you could come and get it right now,’ he said, and his smile was forced.
Now, it’s hard to tell whether a man hates you because you killed his friends or whether he’s just scared or whether he plans to kill you. Best to play safe.
I shook my head. ‘That’s good,’ I said. ‘And you can all spend a last night with me, until I see it.’
Then he started away, but I caught him easily, put a knife to his throat while the rest of the Phoenicians muttered angrily. I pushed him off to Herakleides and turned back. ‘All four of them are my prisoners until the ransom is paid,’ I said. ‘I am an honourable man, but don’t try me.’
My prisoners were surly now, and I was suspicious. We all slept badly under the hull of our overturned boat. We could hear voices on the Phoenician boat.
Perhaps I should have posted a sentry.
I awoke with the point of a dagger at my throat.
19
‘You did not come when I summoned you,’ Briseis said quietly.
I could see Kylix standing by the embers of our fire.
‘You summoned me?’ I asked, my head full of sleep. Was that Briseis? The arm across my chest felt familiar.
‘I brought you a note,’ Kylix said. ‘Please tell her you received the note.’
Paramanos was awake. I could see that he had a blade in his hand, and he was moving very slowly towards Stephanos.
‘I got the note,’ I said. I felt like a fool, ten times over. Of course the note was from Briseis. For a man who brags about his intelligence, I can be stupid. I had wanted the note to be from Archi.
‘Yet you did