‘By the Skyfather, when I woke up I thought I was on a boat! Then I realised we are! We did it then!’ She stamped her feet in the circling dance the maidens performed back in Lavinium on feast days. Marvelling at her steadiness, Silvius glugged down some water she held out to him, and managed a weak grin back at her.

A gull swooped down and perched on the rigging, regarding them steadily.

‘Good morning, ship nymph!’ called Elissa, pouring some water onto the deck as a libation.

‘Good morning,’ came a voice from all around them. The gull flapped off. Ruffler cowered in a corner, and Elissa rushed to comfort him. It was the ship nymph. ‘We sail to Sicilia. I will see you safely there, as this I have sworn to Apollo.’

‘I thank you,’ said Silvius. And then, in answer to his unasked question, the gull reappeared, and dropped a flapping fish at their feet.

They had brought tinder and kindling, and soon a fire was crackling and they were roasting the fish in the embers. It was the best fish Silvius had ever tasted, and he and Elissa greedily scoffed it down, letting the juice run over their chins; they ate the burnt, blackened skin with relish, not even minding if they crunched on a bone or two.

When they had finished, Silvius went to look out to sea. The red light was nearer now, and appeared to be coming from a small rowing boat with two hunched figures in it.

‘It’s still there.’ He hugged himself.

Elissa shuddered. ‘We need to keep an eye on them,’ she said. ‘I’ll watch first.’

‘Thank you.’ Silvius sat by the mast. He took the chain off his neck, lifting it over his head, and stared at the shimmering black casket containing the Arrowhead.

It made him dizzy. He wondered if Apollo had a message for him still, and he closed his eyes, pressing both hands onto the lid. His mind went blank.

Apollo, he thought. Apollo, come to me.

But there was nothing; no light, no handsome young man. Only the power of the Arrowhead throbbing darkly. He saw Elissa watching him with a concerned expression.

‘Your stomach,’ she said.

‘It’s fine.’

‘You don’t look well.’

It was true. And it wasn’t just the seasickness.

‘Why don’t you rest for a bit. I’ll call you if anything happens,’ said Elissa, and Silvius went thankfully down into the cool of the cabin beneath.

The bare wooden space, cramped and uncomfortable, reminded him of something. Guiltily he remembered taking the casket from his sleeping father.