A Mixture of Madness, Book II of The Bow - By Levkoff, Andrew Page 0,70

no.”

“So, you’re coming with us to Syria, and beyond?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Well, I shall enjoy your company.”

“What a relief, Alexander. I wouldn’t be tagging along if I knew you weren’t coming. We’ll plan a picnic every day. I expect I’ll have nothing to do anyway but lay about and take the Mesopotamian sun.”

“Good. You could use some color. By the way, lord Publius informed me the Celts will be horsed, not in chariots, so there is one less thing for you to worry about.” I turned toward the front entrance.

“I’ll find something to replace it, don’t you worry. If you’re going up there, bring some wax for your ears. Though I doubt cruel Ulysses himself could keep that unholy racket from driving his ship up onto the rocks.” I decided to ignore the flaw in Betto’s metaphor: Odysseus would be unlikely to encounter a Celtic chariot on the waves, and if he did, it would only be for a moment.

I found my quarry sitting on the edge of the track of the Circus Flaminius, snug, happy and lost in Taog’s enormous lap. At last I could look down on the giant Celt. Barely. Hanno was playing a game he had invented himself. He would rummage through my garbage—repository of the best pieces of discarded parchment—find a draft or an invoice and mash it up into a ball. Then he’d toss the missile between one hand and the other and pull the blocks in his glove at just the right moment to create a makeshift pocket in which to snag the projectile. He was becoming quite good at it.

Betto was right about the noise. Imagine that this entire conversation was shouted.

“Master! We’re resting.” Hanno threw a crumpled old requisition high over his head and plucked it deftly from the air before it hit the ground. Taog and I applauded. As did Hanno.

“So I see. Are you having fun?”

“Oh my, yes! Brenus took me for a ride in a chariot! I was scared but then I wasn’t, but then we had to stop because Brenus’ father’s face got red. Do you know what Taog told me? He said his people get buried in the ground when they die and all their stuff goes into the hole with them so they can use it in the afternoon.”

“Afterlife,” Taog said, tussling the boy’s head. If anyone was carrying on a conversation in the halls of Olympus, Taog’s voice was how I imagined they would sound. Minus the accent, of course.

“And if they’re good, they get to come back and live again.”

“That’s right,” said Taog. He began tightening the laces on Hanno’s gloves.

“That is a fascinating concept,” I said as enthusiastically as I could.

“That’s what I want to do. Can I, master? I want to die and come back as someone else.”

“Who would like to come back as, little warrior,” the big Celt asked.

“It doesn’t matter. Anyone else is fine.”

“I think you should stay with us for awhile longer,” I said. “You’re far too much fun to have around.”

“I know. How much longer can I stay?”

“As long as you like. I know for a fact that Lady Tertulla has been looking for you. Why don’t we walk down together? I think she may have a treat for you.”

“Bye, Taog,” Hanno said, climbing out of the Celt’s lap. “There’s Brenus! Look at him go! Taog is too big to drive the chariot. I can’t make the sign with my gloves on. But we can pretend.” He pressed his hands together and bowed his head. “Watch over others,” he began.

“As Lugos watches over you,” Taog finished. He also bowed and linked his fingers. I don’t know what came over me, but I too made the sign, spoke the opening words and bowed my head toward Taog. He finished the prayer, but before his expression of wonder could fully form, I had already turned with Hanno in hand to walk back down the hill.

•••

On the last morning of Februarius, Hanno ran to tell me between gasps that the clinic had been closed for the day. As soon as Crassus finished with me, I walked quickly down the path to the front of the estate. There, the thick walls that kept the familia separate and ignorant of the travails of the human swarm below also housed our school and clinic. The sun was just about to break over the hills.

“I knew you would be here the moment you heard,” Livia said. She lay on the lectus in her