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encourage the quest. Perhaps you will meet her upon your voyage.”

TWELVE
    E KION
    T HE KING SUMMONED ME and asked for a report.
    “I’m keeping Jason out of public view,” I said. “He is making no move to form a party or to claim the throne.”
    “All right, as far as it goes. But remember, your chief responsibility is to ensure that the lost prince gets himself permanently lost. He is to recapture the Fleece, if possible, but it is to return without him. Is that clear?”
    “Yes, Your Majesty.”
    “To facilitate this worthy aim,” he said, “I have arranged to provide you with a ship’s company of cutthroats, every man of them briefed on whose throat to cut.”
    “We’ll also need some people to work the ship.”
    “That part’s up to you.”
    The staff twitched in my hand. The snake lifted its carved head to whisper dryly. It was a message from my father.
    Hermes and I walked along the tide line under a moon so bright it branded our shadows on the white sand. There was a heavy surf. Greenish flames flickered on the mane of the breaking waves. A hot night, but his words were chilling.
    “No quest for the Fleece has ever succeeded. All these past voyages, made in sound ships with sufficient crew, have met with disaster.”
    “Are you recommending an unsound ship and an insufficient crew?”
    “You jest, my son, but you speak more wisdom than you know. You don’t need a large crew. Three or four good hands can sail a small ship.”
    “Perhaps, when the winds are favorable. But how about when they blow against us or don’t blow at all? Then the ship must be rowed—which takes at least fifty oars.”
    “You shall sail the way the wind blows. Sooner or later you’ll get to Colchis. But with a small loyal band, deserving each other’s faith, tested in each other’s eyes, a band of brothers.”
    “The king has slightly different ideas,” I said. “He is recruiting a ship’s company of trained assassins—who are promised a rich wage, a richer bonus, and a lifetime pension if Jason should meet with some fatal accident along the way. So what am I to do?”
    “What I tell you, of course.”
    “How do I keep my head on my shoulders?”
    “Keep a brave heart, and I’ll take care of your head.”
    “Be specific. How do I avoid hiring these murderous characters?”
    “Diplomatically, of course. You’ll tell them they’re hired, give them a sailing date, and make sure to slip anchor before then. By the time you return, they’ll all be dead, probably.”
    “Slip anchor in what?”
    “You shall have a ship by then. A shipwright named Argos shall come to you. Do not be deceived by his appearance; he’s a master. Provide him with whatever he requires, and conceal his labors from Pelius.”
    “Yes, sire. And my crew? That band of brothers?”
    “You shall start with your own brothers. They’re on the way.”
    “My own brothers!”
    “Autolycus and Daphnis. You haven’t forgotten them, have you?”
    “Autolycus, yes, he’d be valuable on any adventure. Except …”
    “Except what?”
    “He’ll be spending all his time taking care of Daphnis—who can’t pass an ordinary day without mishap, let alone the kind of days we’ll be passing.”
    “Daphnis will surprise you.”
    “He’s no longer a nitwit?”
    “Sweetest singer since Orpheus. And, unlike that doom-wailer, his nature is as sunny as his voice. His song works enchantment more potent than sword or arrow. You’ll be glad to have him along.”

THIRTEEN
    E KION
    W HEN MY BROTHERS joined us, we moved camp to a heavily wooded peninsula where the trees ran down to the beach.
    Daphnis adored Jason on sight. If Autolycus was jealous, he didn’t show it. As for Jason, he received my brothers with more warmth than he had ever shown me. The three of them frisked about, caressing and cuffing each other like half-grown panther cubs, but I stood outside their joyous circle. So, of course, I envied everyone.
    In choosing the peninsula for