"Argh!" "That's my money!" "To me, over here!" "Catch!" "You've been in the middle for ages!" "You're not trying." "I am trying!" "This is getting boring." "Lupus, join in!" "Lupus can't play, he's too small." "He isn't too small." "You throw it too high." "Me?" "Very flattering!" "May I see?" "Can we get on with the game now, Nubia?" "Or are you going to gaze at that all evening?" "A messenger for you, Aristo." "You did that on purpose!" "What does it say?" "I'm going down to the harbour." "What was all that about?" "It must have been something serious." "Aristo looked scared to death." "Where do you go?" "I want to know what's going on." "That is business of Aristo." "She's right." "It's his business." "It's a mystery!" "I knew you'd change your minds." "Captain Geminus!" "I need to travel to Corinth." "Tomorrow?" "Yes." "It's not possible." "Flavia needs you here." "Someone in Corinth needs me." "Who?" "A family matter." "You're Flavia's tutor." "No, you have to take me or I'll get another ship." "You will honour your contract!" "And if I don't?" "Don't challenge me!" "Don't threaten me!" "You employ me, I'm not your slave!" "I never seen Aristo angry before." "Shows he's not perfect." "I don't say he is." "You look at him as though he is!" "POTTERY SMASHES" "Urgh...!" "Pater?" "Aristo's room." "Father!" "Caudex, go after him!" "Pater?" "Pater!" "Did you catch him?" "Master?" "Captain?" "Why did he do this?" "I'll call up the Vigiles." "We'll bring Aristo back." "Fetch Doctor Mordecai." "Go now!" "Captain Geminus is still alive." "These wounds must be closed." "He'll die if he loses more blood." "First we bathe them." "A bowl of vinegar and a sponge." "Run to my room, fetch my capsa..." "Now, wash your hands, quickly." "Aristo, Greek, light hair." "This tall, good looking." "And you saw what happened?" "Not me." "But his daughter did." "Is she reliable?" "Are you going to do your job?" "!" "Or do I have to track him down myself?" "!" "You coming with us?" "Why?" "He tried to kill my master." "Place your hands on either side of the wound." "Press the edges together and hold them while I sew." "His life hangs in the balance!" "Now that Miriam has left me, it is you I need." "Gently..." "That's good." "Now steady..." "Nubia." "Keep fighting, my friend." "Pater?" "Myrtilla?" "It's me, Flavia." "Your little owl." "Myrtilla, is it you?" "He doesn't know who I am." "He's calling to my mother." "He's still here with us." "How is he?" "The bleeding is under control, but he has taken a blow to the head." "He seems to be developing a fever." "Is he still in danger?" "I'm afraid so." "Will he live?" "I've done all I can for the moment." "Will he live?" "Just tell me yes." "He didn't know me." "He does." "He will." "When he recovers, he will need you." "But he might not recover and there's nothing I can do to help him." "What news?" "There's no sign of him here in Ostia but he was sighted heading for the road to Rome." "Why aren't you following?" "He's outside our boundaries." "What boundaries?" "!" "He tried to murder my father!" "Once a man goes outside the walls of Ostia, he's no longer our concern." "You can't give up!" "Let them go." "Their only concern now is getting to their beds!" "The master's nothing to them." "You are sad?" "Marcus was fighting for his life." "And... you know..." "Does Flavia hate me?" "She hates Aristo." "This is why she goes with Caudex to hunt him." "Caudex?" "He's a different man." "His eyes burn." "The demon." "Demon?" "He told me once of a demon inside him." "It came out in the arena and took control of him." "It has him again." "Flavia too." "I really fear for her." "Don't worry, my father won't let her go with Caudex." "He cannot stop Flavia." "I will go with her." "But my father needs you to stay and help him with Marcus." "Not me." "You." "Me?" "You saw me last night." "I'm hopeless." "You can do it." "Anyway... my father wouldn't want me." "Ask him." "Pater..." "It's me, Flavia." "You will live, I know you will." "But..." "I can't bear to do nothing." "Caudex is going after Aristo and I'm going with him." "Don't worry," "I won't be gone for long and..." "You have to wait for me." "Please." "Please be here when I get back." "We will travel on the road." "Aristo will not go this way." "You follow him on foot." "Through trees and rivers." "Aristo would not attack Marcus." "I do not believe it." "Do you?" "But do not let him see you." "Leave us signs that we can follow you by." "I cannot allow you to!" "I'm no use until my father can recognise me again." "I can't let you follow a murderer with a door slave for protection!" "Caudex was a gladiator!" "He won fights in the arena." "Besides, my father has not been murdered, he is still alive." "MARCUS GROANS" "PIGS GRUNT" "A pig's missing!" "It's goodbye to civilisation from now on!" "It's goats, robbers and rat-infested lodging houses till we reach Rome." "Don't be frightened, me and Flora will protect you." "Flora?" "Under the seat." "You call it Flora?" "Reminds me of an old girlfriend." "She had a sharp tongue." "A slave can carry a sword in Rome?" "Not legally." "But it would be suicide not to carry one out here." "Maybe you'll get a chance to use Flora before we get to Rome." "Why are you bothering me with this?" "It's Greek." "You understand Greek." "It's not a medical document, so it can't help save the life of Marcus Geminus!" "That is all that should concern us at this moment!" "CHICKENS CLUCK" "Come on!" "Quick!" "Stop thief!" "I'm sorry about the scroll." "I thought it might tell us about why Marcus was attacked." "Jonathan, when you came and asked to take Nubia's place, you know what was in my mind?" "Me failing you when you were trying to save Marcus?" "Not failure." "Some people can do these things and some can't." "I believe you can." "I will, I promise." "Good." "Let others worry about why Marcus was attacked." "Our job is to make him well." "And if you don't stay strong this time, we will fail." "Is this the way you greet travellers?" "It is when they steal one of my pigs!" "If you think these ladies look like pig thieves, then you're no better than swine!" "Sorry." "We've had strangers twice already today." "Aristo!" "He would not steal a pig." "He tried to murder my father!" "Ya!" "Ya!" "Get up, come on!" "Ya!" "Ya!" "I think he's getting worse." "MARCUS GROANS" "The fever is starting to run out of control." "Can you stop it?" "There is a potion I can mix." "But I don't have the ingredients." "I need you to fetch them." "I have a note from my father..." "Mordecai ben Ezra." "It's, er... a court case in Corinth." ""A man attacked..." ""Cap..." "Captain"" "Marcus Geminus?" "How is my captain?" "Fine, fine." "Anything else?" "Erm..." ""flogging"." "So they must have punished his attacker." "Two more names." "Dion...and Aristo." "Aristo?" "What does it say about him?" "My schoolmaster gave up on me, my reading is very poor." "Aren't you going to give him any?" "It is not yet time." "Later, then?" "Never, I hope." "When a fever threatens to take a man's life, this is the only thing I know which might hold it at bay." "Might?" "It can also hasten death." "So I use it only when there is no other alternative." "Watch over Pater." "Leave him with us as head of our family and keep us on the path of the man who did this terrible thing to him." "How long will this take?" "Castor and Pollux are family gods." "She asks for their help to find Aristo." "Please help us find him, oh, Castor, oh, Pollux." "We'd find him a lot sooner if we got out of here and got on with it!" "What are you doing?" "You can't desecrate the shrine." "Lupus." "His wristband." "You're right, it is!" "He knew I'd stop at this shrine to pray." "He left it to let us know we're on the right track." "If we ever get going again!" "You were attacked in Corinth, but Cyrus couldn't tell me who did it." "Was it Aristo?" "His name is in the scroll." "Did Aristo attack you last night because you had him flogged for what he did to you in Greece?" "But that doesn't make sense." "If Aristo was your attacker, you would never have employed him as a tutor for Flavia." "A child is seriously ill and needs me." "You're going out?" "!" "I have no choice." "But what if the fever gets worse?" "Watch him closely." "If you think he's near death, give him the potion." "But it might kill him." "Or it might save his life." "I will be back soon... and I'm trusting you to have the courage to make that decision." "Caudex!" "Caudex!" "We were going off the road!" "I only closed my eyes for a moment." "You were asleep." "I was up all night, tramping the streets of Ostia." "He must sleep." "While he does, Aristo is getting further away from us!" "Aristo must sleep too." "So this is our chance to catch up!" "You rest, I'll drive." "But you need strength in your hands to guide a team of horses." "I have driven horses." "Well, keep to the road, and wake me up in a few hours." "No!" "MARCUS GROANS" "No, please...please don't!" "Please, hold on, at least until my father gets back." "What are you thinking?" "I'm thinking how talented Lupus is." "It's a good likeness." "It's more than a likeness." "When I look at his face, I can just see the evil in it." "It's in your mind, not the picture." "You're wrong!" "You just have to look hard enough." "Look!" "Nubia..." "Caudex!" "Caudex, wake up!" "Caudex!" "What is it?" "Why are we going back?" "We have to jump, we have to jump!" "No, no, it's too fast." "No, we have to jump!" "The brake!" "Give it to me!" "Oh, please help!" "We have to jump!" "The fall will kill you, sit down!" "Pull harder!" "I can't do it!" "Pull!" "Argh!"