Free Cassandra by Kerry Greenwood Page B

holy sign with her free hand and said, `Thanks be to all the gods, yes, I and the children are well. Though what we will do or where we will go, I do not know.'
    I could think of no reply so I said, `Leave it to the gods, Lady.'
    In this way I arrived at hypocrisy and started on my journey towards becoming a man. My master came up at this moment, heard my declaration, and did not even smile.
    `Woman, where are all the people of Kokkinades?' He sounded angry. The woman recoiled and pointed down the road, where I knew that the village of Irion stood. I had been born there.
    `At the temple of Apollo of the roads,' she said shakily. `It is not an hour's walk, Lord.'
    Glaucus grabbed Banthos' rein, untied him, and leapt onto his back. I followed hastily and we galloped away.
    `Master, what has happened to the village?' I screamed through the dust and the beat of hoofs.
    `Their own stupidity has happened to them. By the gods, if there were gods, Diomenes, they would despair of men.'
    `Why?' I asked, choking on a mouthful of dust.
    He did not reply. I drove my heels into Pyla's flank, urging her to keep up, but we failed to match the speed of Banthos and had to follow in his dust cloud. Inevitably, we dropped behind. I tucked my feet into Pyla's belly band, my soles against her silky hide. I could not see a thing (and perhaps neither could Pyla) but thus attached, I could not fall off.
    I wondered what the men of Kokkinades had done to make Master Glaucus so angry.
    As the dust settled, I rubbed my eyes and saw that we had arrived at a small and badly maintained temple of Apollo Pathfinder. Thirty people were gathered outside. My master had dropped Banthos' rein and was striding into the building. I leapt down, tethered the beasts, and followed on his heels.
    This temple had only one priest, and he was very old. His beard was white and curled to his waist and his head was entirely bald.
    One look at him told me that he had lost his wits. He was mumbling prayers, all confused, marrying bits of harvest prayers to the petition of rain, mispronouncing the words so that I could only pick out phrases occasionally. This sometimes happens to old men who have outlived their time. Usually some pectoral ailment carries them off to merciful death at the end of the next winter.
    The sacrifice had been made - a kid - but this priest could not intercede with Apollo for his people.
    Master Glaucus put the priest gently aside and said loudly, `Are you men of Kokkinades?'
    There was a murmur of agreement. A stout, middle-aged man stepped forward and said, `The men of Kokkinades hear you. Who are you, Lord?'
    `I am Glaucus, master of Epidavros.' They stepped back a pace at this and bowed. I looked at their faces. They were labouring men and farmers, weather beaten and gnarled like old olive roots by longs years of hard work in the fields. They did not resemble each other at all except for the eyes. They all had the same expression. They were all terrified.
    `Ten years ago,' said the master slowly and loudly, so that those outside could hear, `an oracle from Epidavros told you that your well was cursed, and ordered you to dig another higher up the hill. The god also ordered you to clean your houses, wash your clothes, and dig new privies on the lower side of the village. Did you obey?'
    `Yes, Lord. We would not disobey an oracle,' said the stout man.
    `I came into Kokkinades to find the houses full of dead children. So I thought about your village and how this could have happened. How could such simple people have offended a powerful god?'
    `It was the bull,' said another man. `I told you, Pilis. We should not have sacrificed the bull.'
    `It was the oracle of Apollo!' roared my master. `In Kokkinades there is a well which lies lower than the drain from the market place. From the look of it that is where you have been getting all your water. Is this true?'
    `Yes, Lord. The new well was too far from the village,' said Pilis timidly, `so we opened the old