Killer of Men - Christian Cameron [89]
He was making love to Penelope.
I found Darkar instead. ‘See to Briseis,’ I said. And then I understood. ‘You knew Archi was doing Penelope!’ I said.
He nodded. And shrugged.
I shrugged back. ‘Thanks for trying to keep it from me, anyway,’ I said. ‘I suppose. But I know.’
Darkar looked at me for a moment. ‘Come into my office,’ he said. And when I was in, he closed the door. His office was a tiny room under the cellar stairs where he did the household accounts.
‘You seem to know everything.’ He paused. ‘Listen, boy. You have a level head. If we aren’t careful, this household will fall apart. And if it does – if Master kills Mistress, if Briseis kills herself – we will all be sold. Understand me? It is not just our duty to keep them all apart until things get better – it’s for our own skins, too.’
‘Ares!’ I said. ‘Is it that bad?’
‘I drugged Master’s wine the night – the night it happened. And every night since.’ Darkar had hollows under his eyes. ‘He’s going to kill her.’
‘We should give him something else to think about,’ I said. ‘Like war with Persia.’
Darkar shook his head. ‘I thought that would happen, but it’s worse, not better.’
I shrugged. I was seventeen, and I didn’t want to be responsible for the happiness of a household. ‘I have a task to do,’ I said.
Darkar nodded. ‘Can I count on you?’ he asked.
‘I swore an oath to Artemis to support them,’ I said.
He smiled. ‘Good man. Go on your errand. What did she tell you to do?’
‘She told me to kill Diomedes,’ I said.
He stroked his beard. ‘You can’t kill him.’
‘But I can hurt him,’ I said.
‘His father would have you killed,’ he said.
‘Not if Archi comes with me,’ I said. ‘I’m waiting for him to finish consoling Penelope.’
Darkar was a hard man. His eyes glinted in the lamplight. ‘That would help the household,’ he said. ‘People will know we are still standing. I approve.’ He looked at me. ‘You could still end up dead, though.’
I laughed. Even then, I had begun to feel the power. I was not going to die in some night squabble in Ephesus.
An hour later, Archi was done with Penelope, and I walked in on them with a clean chiton for her and clothes for him.
It may have been the most courageous moment of my life. It was hard to meet her eyes – she was naked, entwined breast to breast with him, and all but purring. She had wept and been comforted. And they smelled of sex.
‘Master, I need you now.’ I tossed clothes and a towel at Penelope. ‘I am sorry to intrude.’ I raised a hand – something a slave never does – and silenced my master. ‘I have consulted with Darkar. We need to strike Diomedes. We need to show the city that we are not dead as a household. He insulted your sister. He might have broken the match in a dignified manner, but he called her a whore. Let’s punish him.’
Archi met my eye and smiled. Bless him, he understood immediately. ‘This is for my sister?’ he said.
‘For all of us,’ I said. ‘For your mother, too.’
Penelope looked at us. ‘You are a slave!’ she said. ‘You cannot punish a free man!’
I ignored her.
Archi nodded. ‘Let’s get him. How do you propose we do it?’
‘He’ll be in the agora or the gymnasium bragging – shaming her and excusing himself. You know him – you know what he’ll do. On and on, to everyone he meets. We take Kylix as a spy. He’ll watch the fucker. We follow him when he leaves for his dinner, catch him in a street and beat the shit out of him.’ Pardon my language, honey – that’s how men speak when they are ready for violence.
Archi pulled a chiton over his head and I pinned it for him. Penelope was wiping herself with the towel. I watched her. She turned her back and blushed.
Archi took his new sword from a peg on the wall. I shook my head. In those days, I assumed that every man had the same daimon I had. ‘We aren’t going to kill him, master,’ I said.
‘He has thugs,’ Archi said. Of course, I’d been going back and forth to the Persian camp for weeks. I’d missed a change. Diomedes’ father, Agasides, had hired him a pair of Thracians as guards. In fact, like most of the gentlemen of the city,