“But why couldn’t it be true? If Father’s incarnate now, why shouldn’t Yayzu have done the same thing in Roman times, the way Aristomache says?”

“Oh, interesting, I hadn’t thought of that.” Phaedrus put an arm around the mast and leaned out, looking over the city.

“Can you fly?” I asked, seeing that.

“Walk on the air like we did on Ikaria? I haven’t tried it this high up, but I’m sure I could.”

“No, really fly, swoop about like a bird. I feel I can, but I haven’t tried it because I don’t want anyone to see me.”

“No, it would be pretty conspicuous.” He grinned. “I don’t feel that I could, but I don’t feel that I couldn’t either. Have you found anything else you can do?”

“Understand languages I don’t know. Maia and Aristomache started speaking some strange language yesterday and I understood it clearly, though I’d definitely never heard it before.”

“Wow.” He looked impressed. “Hard to test. Though I suppose you could go around asking the Masters and the Children to say something in their birth languages. But they’re supposed to have forgotten them. I’ve never heard anyone speak in them. Maia’s usually so properly Platonic, too. Which of them started it?”

“Aristomache. I suppose in the Goodness Group things are different.”

“I don’t think they were the ones who raided us. They don’t even have any art that isn’t Christian, why would they want the head of Victory? But I hope Father believes that.”

“Who do you think it was?” I asked.

“Psyche or the Amazons, like normal,” he said. “I believe Alkibiades that it wasn’t Athenia, and Sokratea has never broken a treaty without a declaration.”

“Do you think Father will believe it?”

“There would have to be good evidence. But it should be easy enough to find out where the Goodness was at the time, once we catch up with them. I hope he will accept it. If not, it’s going to be exceedingly awkward. And if he does start to believe it, I hope he doesn’t want to go straight home and immediately get vengeance there. I hope we go to the music festival.”

“So do I. Will you do me a favor? When we get the chance, I want to go off somewhere and test flying, and test lifting you when I fly,” I said.

“Sure. I want to try that too. And the language thing. I wonder if we all have the same powers or if we all have different ones.” He sounded excited to find out. “The only thing I’ve tried is healing.”

“Who did you heal?”