Catilina's Riddle Read Online Free PDF

Minotaur would be waiting for them here. This went on for a very long time, until a hero named Theseus entered the Labyrinth and slew the Minotaur."
    "He killed it?"
    "Yes."
    "Are you sure?"
    "Quite."
    "Completely sure?"
    - 19 -

    "Yes."
    "Good!"
    "Why do you ask about the Minotaur?" I said, anticipating the answer.
    "Because Meto has been saying that if I'm not good, you'll feed me to it. But you've just said that it's dead."
    "Ah, so it is."
    "So Meto is wrong!" She rolled out of my lap. "Oh, Papa, I almost forgot! Mama sent me to fetch you. It's important."
    "Yes?" I raised an eyebrow, imagining some dispute with the un-skilled slaves who were overseeing the kitchen in Congrio's absence.
    "Yes! There's a man who's come to see you, a man on horseback all the way from Rome, all covered with dust."
    It was not one man, but three. Two of them were slaves, or more precisely bodyguards, to judge from their size and the daggers at their belts. The slaves had not entered the house, but stood outside with their horses, drinking water from a jug. Their master awaited me just inside the house, in the little formal courtyard with its fishpond and flowers.
    He was a tall, strikingly handsome young man with dark eyes. His wavy black hair was trimmed short over his ears but left long on top, so that black curls fell carelessly about his smooth forehead. His beard was trimmed and blocked so that it was no more than a black strap across his chin and upper lip, accentuating his high cheekbones and red lips.
    As Diana had said, he was dusty from his journey, but the dust did not hide the fashionable and expensive-looking cut of his red tunic or the quality of his riding shoes. He looked familiar; a face from the Forum, I thought.
    A slave had brought him a folding chair to sit on. He stood up as I entered and put down the cup of watered wine from which he had been drinking. "Gordianus," he said, "it's good to see you again. Country life agrees with you." His tone was casual, but it carried the polish of an orator's training.
    "Do I know you?" I said. "My eyes fail me. The sunlight is so bright outside, here in the shade I can't see you clearly . . . "
    "Forgive me! I'm Marcus Caelius. We've met before, but there's no reason you should remember me."
    "Ah, yes," I said. "I see you more clearly now. You're a protege of Cicero's—and also of Crassus, I believe. You're right, we've met before, no doubt at Cicero's house or in the Forum. Memories of Rome are so irrelevant here, I sometimes have a hard time recollecting. And the beard fooled me. The beard is definitely new."
    - 20 -

    He reached up and stroked it proudly. "Yes, I was probably clean-shaven when we met. You've grown a beard, as well."
    "Mere laziness—not to mention cowardice. At my age a man needs every drop of blood he has to keep his bones warm. Is that the fashion in Rome these days? The way you trim it, I mean."
    "Yes. Among a certain set." There was a trace of smugness in his voice that put me off.
    "The girl has already brought you some wine, I see."
    "Yes. It's quite good."
    "A modest vintage. My late friend Lucius Claudius was rather proud of it. Are you on your way from Rome to some point farther north?"
    "I've come from Rome, yes, but this is my destination."
    "Really?" My heart sank. I had hoped he was merely passing through.
    "I have business with you, Gordianus the Finder."
    "It's Gordianus the Farmer now, if you don't mind."
    "Whatever." He shrugged. "Perhaps we could retire to another room?"
    "The courtyard is the coolest and most comfortable place at this time of day."
    "But perhaps there's another place more private, where we might be less likely to be overheard," he suggested. My heart sank again.
    "Marcus Caelius, it's good to see you again, truly. The day is hot and the road is dusty. I'm glad I can give you a cup of cool wine and a respite from your horse. Perhaps you require more than a drink and a brief rest? Very well, my hospitality is not exhausted. To