There was a sudden rattle on the door handle, and I was saved the trouble of further argument.
‘I heard you was round abouts here, my love,’ said Irene. She kicked the door wide open, scattering a pile of old reports, and walked in. She was now wearing a much taken-in military tunic. She might even have had a sword under her cloak.
I scowled at her. ‘I did specify slaves before noon,’ I said harshly. I looked out of the window. ‘That was some while ago.’
She smiled and gave a dismissive wave. ‘Oh, don’t you worry yourself, dearie,’ she said. ‘There was problems with the lady’s maids — I had to flog a couple into a proper view of their station in this life. But they’re all ready and waiting for you. If you’d like to follow me into that big room with the statue of Sappho — lovely girl she was, too, if you’ll pardon the digression. .’
I sat on a raised chair in one of the less tatty halls of audience, and looked at the huddle of slaves who stood before me, their heads turned down in misery and respect. I took another long draught of beer and handed the mug to Martin. I burped into my sleeve and got slowly to my feet. Perhaps I had overdone the opium, I thought yet again. But I took a deep breath and put myself into a semblance of order.
‘If you were born to be warriors,’ I opened in what I hoped was the right dialect of Slavic, ‘it is by the fortune of war that you stand before me. I will not have you chained up at night, nor made to wear iron collars by day. I will not beat you, or subject you to other humiliations. In return, I expect total obedience to my commands and total devotion to my interests.’
I paused and steadied myself. All who could understand me were now looking up at me. Their pale, slab-like faces showed no emotion. I suppressed another burp and went on: ‘You may be aware that I have bought you outright from the Lady Irene, your former mistress. Unless detained here by the onset of winter, or by some other untoward circumstances, I do not expect to be long in Athens. But I promise that those of you who serve me well I will free before I leave. You can then return to your homes or go where else you may please. Those of you with whom I am not satisfied I will sell back to the Lady Irene, who will dispose of you at market as may suit her convenience.
‘Can I expect the devotion I seek?’
You can put that choice to any rational being and get exactly the same answer. I’d paid ready cash for these creatures, and they knew they were mine as absolutely as the clothes I was wearing. But I stood with right arm held out as each took his turn to come forward and take my hand between both his own. It did no harm to add the semblance of fealty to a freely chosen lord to the duties prescribed by law. And it wasn’t just heavy cleaning and other household work I had in mind for them. If Priscus might have the good sense not to try poisoning me as we sat together at meat, Nicephorus and Balthazar were still on the loose. I might well have need of those big men for much else beside.
‘Do make the same offer to the female slaves,’ I whispered to Martin as I stepped past him. I turned to Irene, who’d thrown her cloak off and was indeed wearing a sword. ‘If you can get everything ready for dinner, I’ll be in your debt,’ I said.
She gave another flash of brown teeth and turned to clap her hands at the slaves for attention.
I was now aware of a newcomer to the room. I took him by the shoulder over to the main door. ‘Any luck?’ I asked in whispered Latin. The Dispensator’s secretary shook his head. As ordered, a few dozen monks were unobtrusively combing the city for Nicephorus or anyone dressed all over in black. A dozen more were lounging by the two gates that were opened by day. Nothing so far to report.
‘Then I want you to keep looking,’ I said. ‘If it means pulling me out of bed before dawn, I want to be told the moment anyone is found or even seen. Do you understand?’
He bowed and confirmed that the Dispensator had given no reason for his orders.
‘Excellent,’ I said. The opium was pressing hard on me, but I smiled. ‘I look forward to seeing His Lordship your master at dinner.’
‘I’m going for a lie down,’ I said to Martin. ‘Since you’ll need a good voice for the readings, I advise the same of you.’ I looked at his torn hands. ‘No, Martin,’ I said with soft insistence. ‘After what you’ve had to go through already today, I command you to go and lie down.’ I might have patted him on the shoulder. A Greek would have kissed him in recognition of his attempted defence. But there is much to be said — in public at least — for a stiff upper lip.
Chapter 36
Naked, I stood in the library. This wasn’t the shattered wreck that I knew. It was instead the luxurious, well-stocked house of books that it must have been in ancient times. Elegant in blue silk, her toenails shining with gold leaf, a young woman reclined on one of the window seats. She’d fallen asleep in the sun, a scroll open on her lap. I stared down at my hairy nakedness, and was ashamed. I wanted to step forward and see what the young woman had been reading. I wanted to stand closer to her and see her face, which was turned away from me. There were no loose tiles or other debris on the floor. It would be simply a matter of walking forward a dozen feet and looking down. But that disembodied voice was speaking again from behind me.
‘Do you want to know what happened in this room?’ it asked in English.
I smiled and turned round. There was an old man fussing over what may have been the library catalogue. I stood just a few feet from the desk where he muttered over an open scroll of listings. I looked at the wall painting of Athens. Its colours fresh and vivid, it showed the city in much greater detail. Though I could see no captions above any of the buildings, I now recognised what everything was. There was the Garden of Epicurus, and there the spot in the old market place where the speakers had once stood to address the Assembly. As I stared, everything made more sense than it had, either in Dexippus or in my own tour of the modern city. But the voice was repeating its question.
I laughed and waited to see if the old man would look up. Of course, he didn’t. He picked up a book sleeve and squinted to read the parchment tag on it. He put it down and made a fresh entry in his catalogue scroll. He picked one of the books on the desk and unrolled it a few inches. He put it down and took up another. This time, he pushed it gently into the sleeve. He got up from the desk and walked towards me. I stood my ground and strained to feel any trace of disturbance as he walked straight through me on his way to one of the bookracks at the far end of the room. It was, I could see, as if he’d walked though a column of smoke from a bonfire. I saw myself disintegrate and then come back together — but I felt nothing. I turned and watched him pass down the room. He stopped before the unbroken bust of Polybius and bowed in silent respect.