Archimedes. We do.”
“ We?” Archimedes thought he misheard.
“ I am the epistates of the school and library, appointed by Pharaoh Ptolemy himself. The school is officially a religious institution, and therefore I am the priest.” Callimachus spoke in his even, tempered voice.
Archimedes swallowed, he wasn’t sure if he should ask the next question.
“ And Ajax?”
“ He is a veteran of many wars who needed a quiet place for retirement,” Callimachus said. “The school and library hold priceless treasures, the students not the least among them, and Ajax makes sure they stay secure. Even though he suffered many injuries in battle, he seems to miss the life of a soldier and longs for greater challenges than the quiet life we offer here.”
Chapter 11
The marketplace was a jungle of trade and only hearty or foolish explorers would enter it without an experienced guide. How Callimachus was able to move through the crowd in his leisurely, measured pace without being battered by boxes, Archimedes wasn’t sure.
The people that flowed around Callimachus converged on Archimedes in an irritating tangle of people and products. It reminded him of the docks without the awful smells. Instead, the boisterous marketplace was a complex concoction of fragrance, color, movement, and music.
One blind sailor was playing a haunting tune on a bone flute, hoping for the clink of a coin in his cup. Nearby, a woman was dancing to the sounds of a harp. Splashes of gaudy paint on her eyes and lips did their best to delay the advance of time.
A dark woman in a darker robe speaking a strange tongue was peddling minute carved figures of people. Another booth displayed dozens of orange, red, and yellow spices in copper bowls, radiating a pungent aroma that reminded Archimedes to visit Farrokh in the next couple of days.
A filthy child ran up to Archimedes with his hand out, waited a moment, and then dashed off to a more tempting target. “Stay close, Archimedes, the marketplace is safe, but there are the unscrupulous who prey on the innocent,” Callimachus said.
They went past a few more stalls before Callimachus stopped. “Here is a perfect example of the chicken paying to be caught by the fox. Watch how easily the foolish are duped by anyone claiming to be a conjurer or magician.”
Along a crumbling wall was a man wearing a robe similar to Farrokh’s, pacing around a girl seated in a chair. The girl, nearly a woman, looked dazed with dark circles under wide eyes staring straight ahead. Archimedes wondered if she would go blind from the sun if she didn’t blink soon. She wore a robe like the man and Archimedes guessed she was his daughter.
“ Who wants to know their future?” The performer called out. “What are you willing to pay to know what treasure tomorrow holds while your neighbors toil in the present? All you need do is ask, and the enchantress Sheeva, priestess of the gods, the one whose eyes see into the next sunrise, will tell everything you need to know!”
The girl seemed to take no notice of the crowd or heat. Finally a weathered, older man walked up and handed a coin to the performer, who checked both sides of the coin and said, “Ask and listen closely.”
The older man cleared his throat before asking, “My son, he is so young, is sick. Will he…” the man choked up for a moment before a young man, perhaps another son, came and put his hand on the older man’s shoulder. The older man continued, “Will he live?”
The girl sat motionless and the crowd grew quiet, leaning in. Suddenly she dropped her head almost to her lap, then quickly raised it with the same wild look in her eyes. “Who can question the gods? Who knows their ways?”
She stopped speaking and the man looked pleadingly at the performer, who held up his hand telling him to wait. The girl began making guttural sounds, as if she needed to purge a great pain, and then continued. “In two weeks time, when the
“ We?” Archimedes thought he misheard.
“ I am the epistates of the school and library, appointed by Pharaoh Ptolemy himself. The school is officially a religious institution, and therefore I am the priest.” Callimachus spoke in his even, tempered voice.
Archimedes swallowed, he wasn’t sure if he should ask the next question.
“ And Ajax?”
“ He is a veteran of many wars who needed a quiet place for retirement,” Callimachus said. “The school and library hold priceless treasures, the students not the least among them, and Ajax makes sure they stay secure. Even though he suffered many injuries in battle, he seems to miss the life of a soldier and longs for greater challenges than the quiet life we offer here.”
Chapter 11
The marketplace was a jungle of trade and only hearty or foolish explorers would enter it without an experienced guide. How Callimachus was able to move through the crowd in his leisurely, measured pace without being battered by boxes, Archimedes wasn’t sure.
The people that flowed around Callimachus converged on Archimedes in an irritating tangle of people and products. It reminded him of the docks without the awful smells. Instead, the boisterous marketplace was a complex concoction of fragrance, color, movement, and music.
One blind sailor was playing a haunting tune on a bone flute, hoping for the clink of a coin in his cup. Nearby, a woman was dancing to the sounds of a harp. Splashes of gaudy paint on her eyes and lips did their best to delay the advance of time.
A dark woman in a darker robe speaking a strange tongue was peddling minute carved figures of people. Another booth displayed dozens of orange, red, and yellow spices in copper bowls, radiating a pungent aroma that reminded Archimedes to visit Farrokh in the next couple of days.
A filthy child ran up to Archimedes with his hand out, waited a moment, and then dashed off to a more tempting target. “Stay close, Archimedes, the marketplace is safe, but there are the unscrupulous who prey on the innocent,” Callimachus said.
They went past a few more stalls before Callimachus stopped. “Here is a perfect example of the chicken paying to be caught by the fox. Watch how easily the foolish are duped by anyone claiming to be a conjurer or magician.”
Along a crumbling wall was a man wearing a robe similar to Farrokh’s, pacing around a girl seated in a chair. The girl, nearly a woman, looked dazed with dark circles under wide eyes staring straight ahead. Archimedes wondered if she would go blind from the sun if she didn’t blink soon. She wore a robe like the man and Archimedes guessed she was his daughter.
“ Who wants to know their future?” The performer called out. “What are you willing to pay to know what treasure tomorrow holds while your neighbors toil in the present? All you need do is ask, and the enchantress Sheeva, priestess of the gods, the one whose eyes see into the next sunrise, will tell everything you need to know!”
The girl seemed to take no notice of the crowd or heat. Finally a weathered, older man walked up and handed a coin to the performer, who checked both sides of the coin and said, “Ask and listen closely.”
The older man cleared his throat before asking, “My son, he is so young, is sick. Will he…” the man choked up for a moment before a young man, perhaps another son, came and put his hand on the older man’s shoulder. The older man continued, “Will he live?”
The girl sat motionless and the crowd grew quiet, leaning in. Suddenly she dropped her head almost to her lap, then quickly raised it with the same wild look in her eyes. “Who can question the gods? Who knows their ways?”
She stopped speaking and the man looked pleadingly at the performer, who held up his hand telling him to wait. The girl began making guttural sounds, as if she needed to purge a great pain, and then continued. “In two weeks time, when the
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