“Welcome to Cyprus,” Hermes said. I saw that he was wearing a kiton, so I looked down and saw that my own clothes had transformed again, this time to a long kiton like Phila’s, and a cloak. My kiton was red again. The cloak was cream, with red embroidery. It was pinned with my gold pin, my only ornament, though Hermes was wearing heavy jewelry in the same style as the men crowded around Phila. I was glad he hadn’t changed that for me.

Phila was off the boat now and coming closer, still surrounded by her entourage, who I thought must be her attendants, secretaries and assistants perhaps. There were soldiers leading the way, and I could see servants coming along behind with bundles and baggage. As I glanced at them, I realized that all of the well-dressed people around Phila were pale-skinned, and only among the servants and the sailors did I see anyone as dark as I was. Also, every one of the soldiers was a man. It was easy to forget this kind of thing when reading about history.

I wondered how Hermes was going to attract her attention. We stood there as they bustled up to us and past us. “Ideally we want to catch her alone,” Hermes murmured as they were met by an official-looking group of men. A child gave Phila flowers, which she handed off to one of her female attendants. “Let’s give her a couple of hours.”

The shadows changed, and so did our position. We were in a walled garden. There was an equestrian statue in the center, surrounded by a bed of pink and white flowers. Phila was sitting alone on a stone bench, looking at some papers wearily. Hermes drew me forward.

“Joy to you, Phila, daughter of Antipatros,” he said.

She started, visibly. “No strangers should be in here,” she said. Her voice was higher than I had expected, for her size.

“We did not come past your guards,” Hermes said. His clothes vanished, so she could see the wings on his ankles and on his hat. She gasped and put a hand to her throat. “You had safe travel, as you asked. Now I require the paper Athene gave you for safekeeping.”

Phila set down her papers with commendable calm. I’m not sure I’d have done as well if a naked god had interrupted me unexpectedly. She looked at him, then at me, then back at him. She raised her arms, palms up, towards Hermes, and I could see they were trembling slightly, but she kept her voice even. “Joy to you.”

I echoed her greeting.

“I will certainly give you Athene’s message, but first allow me to welcome you and make you my guest-friends. You must dine with me.”

Hermes nodded graciously.

“And I would love to converse with you,” she went on, emboldened by this permission.

“There is much I may not reveal,” Hermes said.