‘News will have reached them by now,’ said Elissa. ‘But they don’t know what we want. I think they’ll be welcoming.’

‘We need to be as careful as possible.’

As predicted, Elissa could not sleep, and nor could Silvius. So they stayed awake, talking about what they might find, until the ship nymph, in a rather motherly way, ordered them to rest, as they were going to be coming up the eastern side of the land mass the next day, and would arrive at Nauplion, the port of the city of Mykenai, just before twilight.

‘Will you sing to us?’ Elissa asked.

The ship nymph agreed. ‘What would you have? The flight from Troy? The harpies?’

‘No. I’d like … I’d like the song of Dido and Aeneas.’

She settled into her bunk, and listened as the ship nymph continued her song. This time she reached the end of Dido’s story. The queen, in her rage at being abandoned by Aeneas, killed herself. Looking at Silvius, it made Elissa wonder how stories became legends. How could you ever show all the sides? There was Aeneas, dutiful and plain-speaking, full of his love for his people. Had he done wrong?

It disquieted her, but then the ship nymph carried on singing, and this time she added a coda.

It was about how Anna, Dido’s sister, left for Italia, seeking love, and how she found it not where she expected it to be.

Elissa went to sleep thinking of the last time she’d seen her mother. She could barely remember her, barely remember the curious accent she had when speaking the Trojan and Latin words that would feel so familiar to her daughter. How strange, she thought, not to speak the tongue of her own mother. She clutched the little dolphin pendant, and remembered the sudden seizure, the once bright eyes dulled. An ache of sadness stole through her.

She woke up into the dawn, feeling the ship speeding along like a swallow, and went on deck, leaving Silvius snoring behind.

The sun’s gold rays seeped into the sky. Elissa played with Ruffler, and chatted to the ship nymph, whilst Silvius slept below. She didn’t wake him, almost wanting to keep the sea and the sky to herself. She spent the whole afternoon in this way.

The port of Nauplion was ahead of them, a larger cluster of buildings than she’d expected.

‘I can’t believe it!’ Silvius was clambering up the rope ladder to join her, looking serious and sleepy-eyed.

Elissa started jumping up and down and clapping her hands with excitement, Ruffler circling around her legs. ‘We’re here!’

‘Almost,’ said Silvius, arriving next to her.