Free Soldier of Arete by Gene Wolfe Page A

Hypereides, who had just come up. He waved, and I waved in return, getting my chest full of smoke in the process. I fell to coughing, and had to leave the fire.
    Hegesistratus called a greeting and moved to a place from which Hypereides could see him. I do not know what happened to the boy; I have not spoken to him since. When Hypereides drew nearer, he asked how our sacrifice had gone and whether the omens had been favorable.
    "Very much so," said Hegesistratus, "provided we follow the advice of Itys."
    "Wonderful!" Hypereides crouched before the fire to warm his hands. "And that is... ?"
    "You and your crew must round Helle's Cape to rendezvous with us on the Thracian coast. We—Itys specifically indicated the four of us here, and your black slave—must track Oeobazus in Thrace."
    Hypereides winced. "I'll be sorry to lose you."
    Smiling, Elata said, "Let us hope the separation will not be a long one."
    He nodded gloomily at that and stared into the fire. "As regards myself—and Europa and the crew—I can understand Itys's advice well enough. We certainly can't abandon the ship, and if Oeobazus is in Thrace—"
    "He is," Hegesistratus told him. "Itys confirmed it."
    "Then the only thing we can do is report it to Xanthippos and get there as fast as we can. But the five of you will be running a terrible risk." He glanced over at Io. "The child must go, too?"
    Io said, "If Latro's going, I have to go with him."
    Hegesistratus nodded. "Yes. She must."
    "All right, she can go. She and Elata won't actually be in as much danger as you and Latro and the black man." Hypereides sighed. "They'll give you two fighters, at least. They're both good—at least I've seen the black man fight myself, and a poet, Pindaros was his name, told me one time that he meant to compose some of his verses about Latro. You won't be able to do much in the way of fighting yourself, I'm afraid, with that wooden foot and your wound only half-healed."
    (It was only then that I saw that Hegesistratus's right foot, which I had supposed booted, was indeed no more than a wooden peg; and I resolved to kill him when I can.)
    He would not agree. "My wound's closing fast, and though I might not be of much use in a phalanx or on the storming deck of your warship, put me on horseback and I'm as good as any other man."
    Hypereides stood up, rubbing his hands. "Horses cost a lot of money. You'll need at least—"
    Hegesistratus waved the offer away, saying that he would pay for them. But after we returned to Sestos, the black man drew him aside and took him to see five horses. This I know because I followed them, though they did not see me. Surely it was to buy these horses that Hegesistratus sent the black man away, and that was long before we went to the grove of Itys. Besides, the boy with whom I spoke was not Itys, or so I think, but merely a common, living boy, perhaps from some foreign ship. Nor did he say the things that Hegesistratus told Hypereides he did.
    Hegesistratus is betraying us, and for it I shall kill him when the ship has gone.

    Io came to me just as I lay down to sleep, saying that she was cold. I wrapped us both in my cloak and laid hers over us. When I asked her age, I heard her hesitate before answering as she pondered the greatest age I might accept. I will not write here the age she gave me, for I know it to be false. It was not long before I discovered what she wished, and I would not give it to her, though many would, I think. I asked whether she was glad we were going to Thrace with Hegesistratus and Elata, and she said she was. When I asked why, she said that Thrace is on the road to Hill, and Pindaros is probably in Hill, and that the best thing for me would be to find Pindaros, who might take me to some place where I would be cured. When I heard that, I was happy that I had written so carefully all that was said of this Pindaros.
    Then I slept for a time. When I woke, Io was weeping. I asked why she wept, and she said it was because