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for me to book passage on such a ship?”
    â€œI don’t think you should have any trouble. With the new king on the throne, and the new king’s soldiers manning the docks and operating the Pharos Lighthouse, the shipping traffic in Alexandria appears to be back to its normal summer pace.”
    â€œYes, but for how long?” said Kettel. “The civil war here in Egypt may not be over. Shipping could be disrupted at any moment by some unforeseen event. If you must go, Gordianus, it will be best to book passage right away.”
    I nodded, then frowned. “But when I arrive, along with examining my documents, the gatekeepers are sure to ask about the purpose of my visit. What pretext could a mute from Alexandria have for visiting Ephesus?”
    â€œWhy, to be cured of his muteness, of course!” said Kettel. “Perhaps you weren’t born mute. The affliction came upon you suddenly, as the result of some illness or because you offended some god. You’ve consulted every physician in Egypt, to no avail, and visited all the temples, seeking the help of any god or goddess willing to listen—”
    â€œBut again, to no avail.” I nodded, seeing where this tale was leading. “And some omen or oracle here in Egypt has directed me to go to Ephesus in search of a cure. Only the Artemis worshipped in Ephesus can grant me the favor I seek.”
    Berynus clapped his thin hands. “A splendid excuse, and completely credible! Why do so many pilgrims visit Ephesus, except to seek the blessing of the goddess Artemis in the great temple revered as one of the Seven Wonders? That shall be your reason, Gordianus. Oh, what a clever pair of liars are living in my house!” He clucked his tongue and cast sidelong glances at Kettel and at me. His pursed lips expressed mock-disapproval, but his eyes glimmered with affection.
    â€œAnd what if some sympathetic Ephesian snatches me up and takes me straight to the temple, and the priests make a great fuss, and a crowd gathers, and there in front of everyone the goddess ‘cures’ me? As soon as I open my mouth…”
    â€œArtemis will have lifted your affliction—but given you a Roman accent!” Kettel laughed heartily, causing various parts of his body to jiggle. “The jests of the gods can be strange indeed!”
    â€œI suppose I’ll deal with the problem of being ‘cured’ when and if it should happen,” I said. “Very well, I now have a name, Agathon, and a city of origin, Alexandria. I have an excuse not to speak—the affliction of muteness. And I have a reason for visiting Ephesus—to worship at the Temple of Artemis, seeking to regain the power of speech. And I have someone to speak for me—my faithful slave and traveling companion, Bethesda.”
    She and I looked at each other and smiled. The eunuchs nodded.
    Just how wildly impractical—and dangerous—such a scheme would turn out to be I could not then have imagined. It was the sort of harebrained idea that could only have been concocted by a young wanderer with delusions of invincibility and two sexless courtiers who knew a great deal about palace intrigue but very little about the challenges of traveling from one city to another in a time of chaos and confusion. But, having come up with a plan, I was determined to return to Ephesus.

    [From the secret diary of Antipater of Sidon:]
    This morning, in a cold sweat, I woke from a nightmare— the nightmare, I should say, for I have been afflicted by this nocturnal terror almost every night since I witnessed the horrible end of Manius Aquillius.
    I suppose I should finally write down what I saw that day. Perhaps, by recounting the incident, I can rid myself of this curse of revisiting it over and over in my dreams.
    Some say it was Manius Aquillius who started the war. Others say it was Mithridates. Historians will no doubt argue the question for centuries to come. I