wounds?”
“Ex-wounds. Scars and replacement parts. My teeth were knocked out one by one, but I waited until they were all gone before I got these beauties. Oh, they are beautiful if fighting is your business. See here.”
He scooped up a handful of pebbles and put them in his mouth, working his jaws. I could hear the brass blades grinding the pebbles. He spat dust, and said, “There are times when you’re so hemmed in you can’t use weapons—only kick and punch and bite. Think how useful these are then … how much better than ordinary teeth. And as for this item”—he held up his spike—“very useful, too. Where I’m concerned, there is no such thing as unarmed combat.”
“I can appreciate that, sir.”
“My problem is I always have to be first in a fight. When I hear war cries and the clash of arms, a fire burns in my gut that can only be cooled by blood. Unfortunately, the blood is usually my own. I’m always charging in too soon and getting sliced up before I can do enough. It’s my one fault as a warrior. Injuries make me miss almost as much action as if I were a coward.”
I couldn’t decide whether he had been sent by Pelius or not. “You put me in an awkward position,” I said. “I’m under orders from the king. It is I who am responsible for enrolling the crew. And the king has forbidden me to take anyone without his recommendation. But you say you do not know him?”
“That is correct.”
“I’m more than eager to enlist a man of your valor and special attributes. Anyone would want you for a shipmate. But what can I do?”
He stepped closer and smiled. His brass toothwork glittered like the hinges of hell.
“You’re lying,” he said softly. “I’m going to bite off your nose.”
I tried to spring away, but his spike had slid behind the waistband of my tunic and I could not move.
“Don’t bite me! Don’t bite me!” I cried. “I’m not lying!”
“Of course you are. My young friends Castor and Pollux sent me word they had joined your crew, and they do not come from your foolish king.”
“The Twins—will they vouch for you?”
“Certainly.”
“You’re hired, then. Let me go. And please stop looking at my nose that way. You see, I had to make sure you were not sent by the king.”
“What do you mean?”
“He wants to supply us with a crew of assassins, all pledged to murder Jason. That’s why I have to be careful. Believe me, sir, I want you on my side in any fighting that is to be done.”
“I thought heralds never fought. Aren’t you exempt from harm by both sides?”
“In ordinary warfare, yes. But the monsters that beset our route tend to eat you first and examine your credentials later.”
“I’ve come to the right place. My name is Idas, prince of Messene.”
“Welcome aboard.”
SIXTEEN
E KION
A RGOS DECIDED HE NEEDED some metalwork done. He wouldn’t touch it himself; he worked only in wood. “It is well we are in a land where expert smiths abound,” he told me. “You shall choose one of them to do what we need.”
“Impossible,” I said.
“A concept I do not acknowledge,” he said.
“The smiths here serve Hephaestus and are considered priests. The chief smith is a court dignitary. If I bring this work to any forge in the land, the king will hear about it immediately. He will understand that we are secretly building a vessel and recruiting our own crew—and the consequences thereof will be exceedingly painful, not to say fatal.”
“All this is none of my concern,” said Argos. “My task is to get the ship built, yours is to get me whatever I need. The metalwork must be done by an expert—but not necessarily at his own smithy. We’ll dig a fire pit right here. He can do his work right on the spot.”
“Bring someone here to spy out our whole operation? Brilliant!”
“We cannot and will not use anyone outside our own company.”
“I don’t care how you get him or what you do with him afterward. Have those
“Ex-wounds. Scars and replacement parts. My teeth were knocked out one by one, but I waited until they were all gone before I got these beauties. Oh, they are beautiful if fighting is your business. See here.”
He scooped up a handful of pebbles and put them in his mouth, working his jaws. I could hear the brass blades grinding the pebbles. He spat dust, and said, “There are times when you’re so hemmed in you can’t use weapons—only kick and punch and bite. Think how useful these are then … how much better than ordinary teeth. And as for this item”—he held up his spike—“very useful, too. Where I’m concerned, there is no such thing as unarmed combat.”
“I can appreciate that, sir.”
“My problem is I always have to be first in a fight. When I hear war cries and the clash of arms, a fire burns in my gut that can only be cooled by blood. Unfortunately, the blood is usually my own. I’m always charging in too soon and getting sliced up before I can do enough. It’s my one fault as a warrior. Injuries make me miss almost as much action as if I were a coward.”
I couldn’t decide whether he had been sent by Pelius or not. “You put me in an awkward position,” I said. “I’m under orders from the king. It is I who am responsible for enrolling the crew. And the king has forbidden me to take anyone without his recommendation. But you say you do not know him?”
“That is correct.”
“I’m more than eager to enlist a man of your valor and special attributes. Anyone would want you for a shipmate. But what can I do?”
He stepped closer and smiled. His brass toothwork glittered like the hinges of hell.
“You’re lying,” he said softly. “I’m going to bite off your nose.”
I tried to spring away, but his spike had slid behind the waistband of my tunic and I could not move.
“Don’t bite me! Don’t bite me!” I cried. “I’m not lying!”
“Of course you are. My young friends Castor and Pollux sent me word they had joined your crew, and they do not come from your foolish king.”
“The Twins—will they vouch for you?”
“Certainly.”
“You’re hired, then. Let me go. And please stop looking at my nose that way. You see, I had to make sure you were not sent by the king.”
“What do you mean?”
“He wants to supply us with a crew of assassins, all pledged to murder Jason. That’s why I have to be careful. Believe me, sir, I want you on my side in any fighting that is to be done.”
“I thought heralds never fought. Aren’t you exempt from harm by both sides?”
“In ordinary warfare, yes. But the monsters that beset our route tend to eat you first and examine your credentials later.”
“I’ve come to the right place. My name is Idas, prince of Messene.”
“Welcome aboard.”
SIXTEEN
E KION
A RGOS DECIDED HE NEEDED some metalwork done. He wouldn’t touch it himself; he worked only in wood. “It is well we are in a land where expert smiths abound,” he told me. “You shall choose one of them to do what we need.”
“Impossible,” I said.
“A concept I do not acknowledge,” he said.
“The smiths here serve Hephaestus and are considered priests. The chief smith is a court dignitary. If I bring this work to any forge in the land, the king will hear about it immediately. He will understand that we are secretly building a vessel and recruiting our own crew—and the consequences thereof will be exceedingly painful, not to say fatal.”
“All this is none of my concern,” said Argos. “My task is to get the ship built, yours is to get me whatever I need. The metalwork must be done by an expert—but not necessarily at his own smithy. We’ll dig a fire pit right here. He can do his work right on the spot.”
“Bring someone here to spy out our whole operation? Brilliant!”
“We cannot and will not use anyone outside our own company.”
“I don’t care how you get him or what you do with him afterward. Have those
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