‘Your eyes are better than mine. So two rows of fifteen oars each.’

‘No,’ Dion said. Cob’s eyebrows went up. ‘Thirty ports to a row. Sixty rowers to a side. That makes a hundred and twenty rowers in total.’

Cob whistled. ‘Silex help us.’

‘I think we’ve learned all we can here. But we need to find out more when we get to the city.’

Working together, Cob and Dion turned the sailing boat back away from the warship, following the shore as they headed for a place closer to the embankment steps. As he searched for a clear patch of shore where they wouldn’t be in the way of the fishermen mending nets on the beach or the sailors scrubbing the decks of their galleys, Dion heard a voice calling out and glanced up.

A young woman was running out onto the rocky promontory on the harbor’s left side, below the Temple of Aldus high above. She waved her arms as she ran, gesticulating wildly, but her words were lost on the wind.

‘I think she wants us,’ Cob said. ‘She seems quite upset.’

Frowning, Dion nodded. ‘We had best see what it is.’

The woman clambered down the rocks until she was close to the water, heedless of the splashes wetting the hem of her fine indigo chiton. She lowered her arms when she saw that the sailboat was coming over.

She had near-black hair flowing to her waist, her thick locks blowing in the wind. The dark hair contrasted with her pale skin and framed a triangular face, with an upturned nose and a wide mouth. Around her neck was a copper medallion, and as the distance narrowed to several feet Dion recognized the symbol of Aeris, goddess of music and healing.

The woman was pretty, but in a haughty manner that was heightened by her present expression of blazing eyes and set jaw.

Recognizing her, Dion thought she’d grown since he’d last seen her, some years ago. She would be nineteen now, he thought.

They were close enough to hear each other. Cob turned the sailboat so that Dion came alongside the rocks.

Chloe, daughter of the first consul of Phalesia, was furious.

‘Get away from the Ilean ship!’

‘Of course, lady,’ Dion said. ‘Should I draw away now?’

Chloe clenched her fists, uncertain whether he was mocking her. Dion could see that she didn’t recognize him.

‘Before I do, could you tell me something about it?’ Dion asked. ‘You said the ship is from Ilea?’

‘We have an agreement. We are to stay away from it.’

‘You have my apologies, Chloe, daughter of Aristocles. I am not Phalesian and was not aware.’

‘Just stay away.’

Dion nodded gravely. ‘You have my word.’