“Perhaps.” Pytheas was frowning. “But I suspect she’s not there, and that she has gone into the Chaos before and after time.”

Hermes wavered for a moment—I was staring right at him and that’s the only way I can describe it. It was like when you’re watching the shadow of a train you’re in falling on the ground, and then suddenly there’s a hill and the shadow is nearer and bigger for a moment, and then it’s back on the plain, racing along. “I can’t find her from outside time either,” he announced. “And I tried to catch her at the Panathenaia, but I couldn’t.”

“But you weren’t there,” I pointed out.

“No. You didn’t see me, so I couldn’t be visible. And she wasn’t there for an instant that you and Thetis weren’t.” He paused, and looked assessingly at Pytheas. “Do you think we should go to Father now and tell him everything?”

“First, we should talk to Hilfa and discover what message she left for us,” Pytheas said.

“And you really think I need to stay bound by Necessity?” Hermes asked. “It’s like having a sharp stone in my shoe.”

“That stone might be our shield,” Pytheas said.

“I am not letting you out of my sight again until you go back there and ensure Alkippe is real,” I said to Hermes. I had never felt more strongly about anything in my life.

“I’d agree to that, but you are mortal, and not caught in Necessity’s jaws. Alkippe already only has one parent. What happens to her if I have to go into danger and you don’t survive?”

I looked at him in incomprehension. “I’d happily give my life for hers, if need be. And she’d be safe here. I wasn’t suggesting taking her with us.”

Pytheas was smiling his enigmatic smile. “You’re seeing Platonic motherhood, which is different from anything you’re used to. Marsilia is telling you we’re in the City, and here children with one parent or no parents at all are at no disadvantage.”

“Yes. If my parents and Thetis couldn’t manage, though I’m sure they could, Alkippe could grow up in a nursery and pursue her own excellence. It’s not like the little orphan in Homer.” I didn’t have much context for how children grew up elsewhere. His assumption that she would suffer neglect if I died disconcerted me. There’s a lot of variety in how we do things on Plato, but that wouldn’t happen in any of our cities. Bringing up children to be their best selves is something we all agree is crucial. In those cities with no nurseries, a child whose family died in a catastrophe would be immediately adopted into another family.