The Princess and the Pirates Read Online Free PDF Page B

rather than their savor. Others were both more substantial and delicious: Danube sturgeon, brought to the island in freshwater tanks; roast gazelle from Judea; and Egyptian geese baked in pastry stand out in my memory. All of this was served with numerous wines, each chosen to complement the course being served. Soon the wreaths and garlands were being put to the test.
    “Commodore,” Alpheus said, using my semiofficial title, “when do you propose to begin your pirate hunting?”
    “Immediately,” I said, then thought it over. “Actually, I need to receive word of their next depredation. That will give me a starting point and a locale to investigate. I also intend to recruit a few ex-pirates for their expertise.”
    “A wise move,” Gabinius affirmed. “You may wish to begin by examining your own crew. If they’re like other naval crews of my experience, half of them will have been pirates at one time or another.”
    “I suspect so, but none will admit it. They all claim they were part of Pompey’s pirate-conquering navy, even the ones who were infants at the time.”
    “I recommend a tavern called Andromeda,” Alpheus said. “The wine is passable, and the company is the lowest imaginable. If ever there was a pirate hangout, that is the one. I’m there most nights.” Alpheus definitely sounded like my sort of man.
    “I’ll give it a try as soon as possible,” I said.
    “I’ll go along with you,” Cleopatra said. “Respectable ladies do not frequent such places!” cried banker Nobilior, scandalized.
    “I’m not respectable,” Cleopatra told him, “I’m royal. Royalty do not have to observe these tedious little social rules. We are above them.”
    Gabinius chuckled. “Still, Princess, those places can be very dangerous. I advise against it.” Silvanus nodded agreement.
    “Nonsense,” she said, with her dazzling smile. “Should the valiant Metellus and the brilliant Alpheus prove insufficient protection, I have my personal bodyguard.” She gestured toward the door, where a young man lounged against the wall, arms folded, one sandaled foot propped against the wall behind him. He had Sicilian features and was dressed much like Hermes, in a brief leather tunic with matching wrist straps and hair band and girded with weapons. He looked half asleep, but so does a viper just before it strikes.
    He looked rather familiar, then it came back to me. “Apollodorus, isn’t it?”
    The youth nodded. “Your Honor has an excellent memory.” “You were watching little Cleopatra’s back when I saw her in Alexandria a few years ago.”
    “All that politician’s training is good for something, eh, Metellus?” Gabinius said. “Caesar can call every man in his legions by name, and they say Crassus could not only put a name to every voter in Rome but could name the fellow’s parents as well.”
    “In the Greek nations,” Alpheus said, “we memorize poetry rather than names. I can’t name one man in ten in my own city, but I can name every man slain by Achilles and where he came from.”
    This raised a good laugh, which shows how drunk we were all getting. When the eating was over and the serious drinking started, the ladies took their leave. I noted that Hermes and Apollodorus faced one another truculently, each taking the other’s measure.
    “There’s a likely pair of fighting cocks,” Gabinius said. “Who do you think would win?” It was an inevitable speculation. We were, after all, Romans.
    “Cleopatra’s boy was trained in the
ludus
of Ampliatus in Capua,” Silvanus said. “Yours, Decius?”
    “The
ludus
of Statilius Taurus in Rome. I’ve paid extra for the best trainers: Draco of the Samnite School, Spiculus of the Thracians, Amnorix of the Galli.”
    “You don’t suppose—” Silvanus began.
    “No,” I said firmly. “I won’t let Hermes fight professionally. It’s not that he’d object, but that it’s exactly what he’d like, and I’ve other uses for him. And I’m